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A PARENT'S JOB 



A PARENT'S JOB 



By 

COLUMBUS N. MILLARD 

Formerly Assistant Superintendent 

of Schools, Buffalo, 

New York 




THE PILGRIM PRESS 

BOSTON CHICAGO 






Copyright 1917 
By C. N. MILLARD 



I. 



OCT 25 !3i7 



THE PILGRIM PRESS 
BOSTON 



©GU476710 



PREFACE 

THERE are few school principals who are 
not frequently requested by parents 
to promote pupils at the end of a 
school year, regardless of their standings. 
Whether the children are fitted to do the 
work of the succeeding grade, is apparently 
a matter of no concern to the anxious parent. 
The mere fact that their pride will be hurt 
by being kept back seems to be the only 
point considered. 

The readiness with which parents often 
intercede with school authorities for a child 
to give up a study that is irksome to him is 
another regrettable tendency which is un- 
fortunately altogether too - common. In 
such instances neither the intrinsic value of 
the subject nor the possibility of its afTord- 
ing most excellent training for the child is 
taken into consideration. " He doesn't like 
it " is obviously to them an all-sufficient 
reason. 

Lack of definite responsibility for home 
duties and absence of deferential respect for 
their elders are the two particulars in which 
children of today differ most widely from 



PREFACE 

young folk of twenty years ago. Teachers 
are deeply impressed with this fact and often 
comment on it; and even the casual observer 
on the street must recognize the same con- 
dition with no little concern. 

It also often happens that pupils drop out 
of elementary or high school because they 
have lost interest through not understanding 
their work. It is likewise true that from the 
standpoints both of aptitude for work and 
of efficiency in making use of common 
practical processes, business men are far 
from satisfied with the product of the schools. 
Frequently parents who try to help back- 
ward children, become discouraged and give 
up the attempt because methods have 
changed so greatly that they do not 
understand the " teacher's way " of doing 
things. 

From all these considerations it follows 
that many parents should better under- 
stand the true aims of education and the 
methods of instruction now prevalent in 
schools. That they should also co-oper- 
ate more intelligently with teachers in the 
work of training their children is equally 
plain. 

" A Parent's Job " has been prepared 

to aid in accomplishing these two most 

desirable ends. If it succeeds even in a 

moderate degree, and thus helps to make 

vi 



PREFACE 



the work of the noble, devoted women in 
our public schools more pleasant and effec- 
tive, the author will feel well repaid for the 
time and effort expended in its preparation. 



Vll 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I Slipping Responsibility on the Schools 1 
II Displacing the Idol of Percentages . 9 

III Habits of Address that Home and 

School Should Co-operate to Form 23 

IV Habits of Work that are Essential 

to Efficiency 33 

V Some Essential Habits of Character . 45 
VI Health Habits that are Vital to 

Efficient Living 69 

VII Home Education Prior to Entering 

School 99 

VIII The First Three Grades of School . 110 
IX Home Co-operation in the Fourth, 

Fifth and Sixth Years of School . 160 
X Co-operation in the Seventh and 
Eighth Grades, and in First Year 

High School 189 

XI National Preparedness .... 217 



A PARENT'S JOB 

CHAPTER I 
Slipping Responsibility on the Schools 

NOTHING makes a stronger appeal 
for our loving protection than a tiny, 
helpless babe, toddling about the 
house and winning all hearts with its sweet 
smiles and pretty ways. Its every sign of 
growing intelligence is watched with deepest 
interest, the entire family uniting to en- 
courage or repress its budding instincts, as 
may seem best. Tenderly and hopefully 
fond parents talk over the little one's future, 
and earnestly resolve to make its life full of 
happy usefulness. 

During the climbing, clattering, clamoring 
period which follows, however, little folk 
do not appeal so strongly to the interest of 
their elders. With a sigh of relief they are 
often sent to Primary School, as soon as the 
law permits, and to church on Sundays, if 
a convenient one is available. In the re- 
maining daylight hours, their training is 
often too largely left to chance, — many 
parents apparently having implicit confi- 
dence in the old tradition that Providence 
1 



A PARENT'S JOB 



especially guides and watches over children 
and other irresponsible persons. 

Nevertheless, some decades past, most 
parents had a far larger share in the edu- 
cation of their children. Mothers carefully 
taught their daughters sewing, cooking, and 
various other domestic duties, and would 
have regarded it a serious reflection on them- 
selves, if their girls had married without a 
good working knowledge of these essentials. 
Boys had a daily round of chores about the 
premises, helped in useful ways in their 
father's business or trade, and were expected 
to perform speedily and well whatever tasks 
were assigned them. Work before play was 
an established rule of the home, and poor 
workmanship was not accepted. Careless- 
ness in speech was considered neither dig- 
nified nor self-respecting, and slang and 
profanity were sternly rebuked. 

The idea that a penny saved is a penny 
earned, and the wisdom of laying aside a 
nest egg for a rainy day, were inculcated 
almost from babyhood. Indeed, in those 
economical times, Fourth of July, the Circus, 
and Christmas were about the only spending 
days for children — days anticipated months 
ahead and enjoyed to the full. Early to bed 
and early to rise, a maxim applied in a 
reasonable degree by the entire family, was 
so fixed a rule for young folk that late hours 
2 



SLIPPING RESPONSIBILITY 

at home or an evening out for entertainment 
was an event long remembered. Children 
ate what was set before them without de- 
murring, for the leavings, if there chanced 
to be any on their plates, were sure to appear 
for their first course next meal; and the rule 
that little folk should be seen and not heard 
was strictly enforced, especially while dining. 

Respect for older people, without regard 
to dress or station, and for authority, where- 
ever lodged, together with reverence for 
God and His church, were foundation princi- 
ples of that former day home. Most remark- 
able of all, perhaps, in contrast with present 
times, instant and constant obedience was 
rigorously exacted from babyhood until the 
ancestral roof was no longer claimed as home, 
and Solomon's well-known advice as to 
sparing the rod and spoiling the child was 
one of the scriptural injunctions most re- 
ligiously followed in the family. In short, 
hard work, simple living, obedience, respect, 
and reverence were the guiding stars of 
youth to home-keeping and good citizenship. 

It is interesting to note how many of these 
practices, formerly regarded by parents as 
their " bounden duty " in bringing up chil- 
dren, have either become little used, or have 
slipped bodily over into the realm of the 
public school. Any duties children may have 
in many homes to-day, instead of having 
3 



A PARENT'S JOB 



precedence over play, are quite likely to 
come in for the last and shortest innings. 
Few girls are now taught sewing and cooking 
by their mothers, but good courses in both 
are available in the schools of many cities. 
At the present time it is quite exceptional for 
boys to have daily home duties which must 
be performed with reasonable swiftness and 
efficiency; but in many schools manual 
training shops afford opportunity for getting 
acquainted with tools and gaining facility in 
their use. 

Judging by the frequent recurrence of 
guy, peach, swell, and numerous similar 
expressions in the vocabulary of children, 
there is no longer great objection to the use 
of slang in many homes. Along with the 
ever increasing cost of living and the mad 
scramble of parents for fine clothes, auto- 
mobiles, and similar extravagances, every 
day is now a spending day for children, — a 
fact to which the corner stores and nickel- 
shows bear indisputable witness. In fact, 
the public school with its occasional penny 
savings bank system seems to be about the 
only check to this Niagara whirlpool of 
expenditure. As to early retiring for chil- 
dren, a visit to the " movies," vaudeville, 
and other places of amusement will readily 
disclose into what innocuous desuetude that 
time-honored practice has fallen. 
4 



SLIPPING RESPONSIBILITY 

The natural sequence to this combination 
of lapses is too many nervous children, — 
children who cannot be strictly held to any 
standard or regime, and who follow more 
or less their own sweet will in what they do 
and say. The claim is not made that every 
thing pertaining to the home training of 
children in the times referred to was perfect, 
nor that all is unworthy of praise to-day. 
Indeed, the methods of our forefathers were 
too likely to be of the rule or ruin type, and 
there was little or no differentiation in man- 
agement, no matter how much children might 
differ in temperament. Besides, there were 
exceptions to the general rule then, just as 
there are now. 

It is true, however, that the ideals as to 
hard work, early hours, thrift, personal 
dignity, obedience, respect, and reverence, 
by which parents were formerly guided in 
bringing up their children, tended to pro- 
duce an industrious, self-reliant, self-re- 
specting, law-abiding nation; while, to say 
the least, the more or less wide departure 
from those sturdy, wholesome standards, 
forebodes no improvement in the future 
citizenship of our country. Nevertheless, 
with the more attractive, better constructed 
school buildings, more practical curriculum, 
and more interesting teaching; with the 
far more widespread knowledge of hygiene 
5 



A PARENT'S JOB 



and prevention of disease, and with the 
increasingly deep interest in child welfare 
throughout our country, the babe of to-day 
should have a far better chance for all-round 
healthful development than ever before. 

This chance, however, must necessarily 
depend, to a large extent, upon the intelli- 
gence, perseverance, and faithfulness of 
parents and teachers in squaring the training 
of their little charges by the rugged ideals 
previously mentioned herein. The school 
can and will continue cheerfully to teach 
domestic sciences, manual training, and 
other features of life's preparation formerly 
left entirely to the home, because the numer- 
ous changes that have taken place in house- 
hold environment during the past few decades 
make the class room the most practical 
place for efficient instruction in those lines. 
Teachers should not, however, be compelled 
to deal with children who at home are culti- 
vating no appetite for hard work and re- 
sponsibility, and whose consuming idea of 
life is to have good times in the easiest 
possible way, regardless of the rights and 
feelings of anyone who happens to retard or 
block the attainment of that end. In these 
respects, parents must return to the sturdier 
ideals of their fathers, and the sooner there is 
a strong, united, persistent effort in that direc- 
tion, the better it will be for all concerned. 
6 



SLIPPING RESPONSIBILITY 

First of all, fathers and mothers must 
realize that carrying out the fond resolutions 
with reference to the future of the crowing 
infant is no cursory, by-the-way undertaking; 
but an obligation that requires infinite 
wisdom, vigilance, patience, and persever- 
ance, — a job for a genuine man and a true 
woman, — in fact, the most sacred duty of 
parenthood. Unlike prayer meeting or the 
club, it cannot be more or less successfully 
undertaken by one parent without the other. 
Frequent consultation, hearty co-operation, 
and the most intelligent team work are 
essential to the best results. 

The fact that the child is naturally dis- 
obedient, dull, unattractive, or inclined to 
degeneracy, instead of lessening, increases 
the responsibility of parents. A teacher who 
would try to ignore or eliminate a child 
because it is dull or troublesome, would not 
be, to say the least, a credit to his profession. 
Such a child challenges the best that is in 
an instructor. One by one the various 
resources at his command are brought to 
bear on the case, and the more protracted 
the effort, the greater the satisfaction taken 
in the ultimate success, since victory in such 
a test of professional skill gives the keenest 
possible pleasure. Surely parents should 
manifest a similarly high professional spirit 
in dealing with their own children of the 
7 



A PARENT'S JOB 



type described; but with vastly greater 
zeal and patience, since there is so much 
more at stake for them than there can possibly 
be for the teacher. 

With mallet and chisel, or with brush and 
color, the sculptor or artist labors patiently 
and enthusiastically for years to produce 
his ideal statue or picture; yet, no matter 
how perfect, the result at the best can be 
only cold marble or lifeless canvas. How 
much more absorbing and self-satisfying 
is the work of parents and teachers who with 
similar skill and perseverance fashion the 
plastic child! And how much greater pride 
and delight they may well take in the finished 
product, — the living, breathing man or 
woman, — strong and splendid in the truest 
and best sense of the words! 

Realizing, then, that in the training of our 
children we have an obligation which de- 
mands our best judgment and effort and may 
produce results fraught with the deepest and 
most abiding satisfaction, we shall now con- 
sider some of the ideals to be kept in mind 
in connection with this important work, 
and the best and most practical means by 
which they may be accomplished. 



CHAPTER II 
Displacing the Idol of Percentages 

THE great barrier in the way of intelli- 
gent co-operation of parents and 
teachers in the education of children 
is examination percentages. This idol must 
be displaced, — aye, shattered and relegated 
to the rear, before home and school will 
work together with understanding and sym- 
pathy for the highest and best interests of 
the young folk whose destinies they so largely 
determine. 

It is customary for teachers to send home 
monthly report cards on which are noted the 
standings of pupils in various studies; and 
by these parents are supposed to keep in 
touch with what their children are doing in 
school. As a rule the standings on these 
cards are based upon monthly written tests; 
sometimes on written examinations covering 
a term or a year, — all of them, to a very 
large extent, tests of memory. If pupils 
remember fairly well, they may apply them- 
selves very little to the daily work, and yet 
make a reasonably good showing on the 
test; they may grossly neglect regular school 
duties, and still, by a few hours of industrious 
cramming just preceding the examination, 
9 



A PARENT'S JOB 



land creditably in class records; dishonest 
pupils may copy enough from the papers of 
better prepared classmates to gain a passing 
mark. 

Nevertheless, since promotions depend so 
largely upon examination standings, the 
latter naturally loom up on the school 
horizon to pupils, parents, and sometimes 
even to teachers, as the great end and aim 
of education. 

The pupil is jubilant over receiving a 
passing mark, especially in a final test. How 
he obtained the standing, or what real love 
for or understanding of the subject he may 
possess, is to him of little consequence. It 
is sufficient that he has passed. 

Parents, as a rule, pay little attention to 
their children's work in school until the marks 
drop below the passing standard. Then they 
intercede vigorously to have the standings 
raised to the requisite passing mark, the 
fact that the child has not made honest 
effort, or has failed to gain the foundation 
knowledge or facility for the work of the 
higher class being apparently not taken into 
consideration. That Charles, James, Mary, 
or Elizabeth should be promoted, seems to 
be the only question troubling the parental 
mind. 

Some teachers take great pride in the 
fact that all of their pupils pass, rating their 
10 



PERCENTAGES 



own ability and that of their colleagues by 
class averages in examination, with little or 
no thought as to whether the habits of work 
of the young folk under their charge have 
improved, or as to the strength or weakness 
pupils may show in the next higher class 
after the long vacation. Such standards put 
a premium upon lazy and neglectful habits; 
they are largely responsible for the inaccu- 
rate, unsatisfactory product which the schools 
send to business men, and therefore cannot 
be too quickly discontinued. 

Even if receiving passing marks in exami- 
nations were synonymous with having ac- 
quired and retained book information, the 
standards would still be far from the best. 
One of the primary aims of education is to 
make pupils self-supporting. When, after 
leaving school, a young man tries to secure 
a position, no prospective employer asks 
him to locate Mt. Popocatepetl, to raise 
a-b to the nth power, or to conjugate a verb. 
Neat appearance, pleasing manners, legible 
penmanship, and ability to write a good 
letter do help to secure the desired place. 
Habits of continuous application to the 
business in hand, neatness, promptness, 
swiftness, self-reliance, good health, and 
sterling character, not book information, 
will insure continuance and promotion. In 
failing more strongly to emphasize these 
11 



A PARENT'S JOB 



important habits of work, health and char- 
acter, our present system of education is 
inexcusably lacking in its most fundamental 
essentials. 

Making percentages the basis of promo- 
tions is likewise a poor plan, because it places 
a premium upon being able to do things well 
under the spur of special pressure, instead 
of upon forming the habit of doing them 
efficiently at all times. For example, take 
the study of English Composition. Pupils 
are promoted if they can attain 75%, 
more or less, in facility of expression, punctu- 
ation, and grammar. Many do succeed in 
passing the various tests creditably, but 
signally fail to continue applying the in- 
formation gained, since there is no special 
stimulus for so doing. 

Conspicuous proof of a widespread weak- 
ness in the teaching of English composition 
was shown in an experiment tried, a time 
ago, by one of our widely read monthly 
periodicals. The enterprising editor sent a 
circular letter to all members of the gradu- 
ating classes of several of the leading colleges 
for girls, requesting each to write an opinion 
of the value of higher training for women. 
The numerous answers received were care- 
fully corrected with reference to punctuation, 
spelling, and English; and the summary of 
the results, which was later published, was 
12 



PERCENTAGES 



almost unbelievable. Yet this poor showing 
did not prove that these young ladies had 
not learned to spell and compose well. It 
simply demonstrated most glaringly that 
they had not formed correct habits in these 
respects. If the editor had given due warn- 
ing that the replies would be critically ex- 
amined, and a summary of the results pub- 
lished, the answers received would no doubt 
have been creditable. 

It is well to know how to enunciate and to 
pronounce correctly, but having the correct 
habit in both is the thing that counts. It is 
worth while to be able to use a pen skilfully, 
when one especially tries, but to have the 
habit of neat, legible penmanship at all 
times is far better. To be able to pass an 
examination on healthful position, deep 
breathing, and the proper mastication of 
food is creditable, but to have correct habits 
in all of these vital functions is absolutely 
essential to the most efficient living. To 
sum it all up, our present scheme of educa- 
tion places far too much emphasis upon 
remembering subject matter, and far too 
little upon habits of work and habits of 
use; and the fact is indisputable that shifting 
the emphasis to the formation of correct 
habits, utilizing the subjects studied as a 
means to this end, will vastly improve the 
product turned out by the schools. 
13 



A PARENT'S JOB 



Instead of having the monthly report 
cards of pupils tell their standings in reading, 
arithmetic, geography, and the other sub- 
jects taught, let there be noted on them 
vital points under the headings, Studies, 
Habits of Address, Habits of Work, Habits 
of Health, and Habits of Character, hold- 
ing up habit-formation as the great thing 
for which to strive from the beginning 
to the end of the school course, and 
making examinations just as incidental a 
part of the school regime as is the daily 
recitation. 

Under Studies, the trifling fact that Jack 
or Florence or Sallie or Sam is one per cent, 
more or less, higher or lower than during the 
preceding month, — information which any 
thoughtful teacher will agree not only is of 
little consequence, but also is largely guess 
work, — should not be included. Indeed, a 
study need not be mentioned at all, unless 
there is some important topic or principle in 
which the pupil should have help at home, 
because he has failed to understand it as 
well as the majority of his classmates. In 
cases of special weakness, the fact that a 
pupil needs daily home-practice during the 
year in reading aloud, penmanship, or in 
whatever subject his chief defects may lie, 
should be noted on the report the first month, 
and occasional comments with reference to 
14 



PERCENTAGES 



his improvement or lack of growth in these 
respects should be made. 

Under Habits of Address, personal appear- 
ance, voice, manners, and conversation should 
be included, since correct habits in all of 
these particulars count so much toward 
success and happiness in life. Personal 
appearance will naturally include bodily 
cleanliness, good taste in wearing apparel, 
and tidiness in caring for the hair, nose, 
teeth, nails, and shoes; while pleasing, well- 
modulated tones and gracious, deferential 
politeness will be the points most worth 
while under voice and manners. 

Such important characteristics as con- 
centration, promptness, industry, neatness, 
rapidity, accuracy, thoroughness, and self- 
reliance will naturally come under Habits of 
Work. 

Sitting and standing position, breathing, 
lung expansion, and care of the eyes and ears 
are the particulars pertaining to Health 
Habits that can be most readily observed in 
school. However, if teachers or medical 
inspectors notice any other vital points such 
as exercise, rest, diet, or the elimination of 
waste, in which children seem to be forming 
incorrect habits, co-operation with the par- 
ents for improving the same should be 
proffered. 

As to Habits of Character, obedience, 
15 



A PARENT'S JOB 



truthfulness, honesty, appreciation, modesty, 
fidelity, respect, and reverence are the chief 
points to be considered, though any other 
item which parents or teachers might regard 
as especially valuable for a particular child 
should be included. 

" But this plan involves altogether too 
many details for a teacher to keep in mind; 
there would not be time," one might con- 
clude. 

That would be true, if all items under each 
heading or sub-heading were to be con- 
sidered every month; but such is not the 
intention. Ordinarily the blank form would 
contain the five headings, Studies, Habits of 
Address, Habits of Work, Habits of Health, 
Habits of Character. If the pupil should be 
satisfactory in all particulars, no comment 
whatever would need to be made. If, for 
instance, he is unsatisfactory in penmanship, 
has not grasped multiplication of fractions, 
is dilatory in performing his work, is showing 
too little industry, is incorrect in sitting or 
standing position, or shows a tendency to 
untruthfulness or cheating, the fact or facts 
under each heading that the teacher might 
consider the most vital will be reported. 
Where a child shows weakness in many par- 
ticulars, better results will be accomplished 
by concentrating upon one or two habits 
until they are fairly well started before 
16 



PERCENTAGES 



taking up others. For example, Spelling, 
Application, Breathing Habit, and Obedience 
might, one or all of them, be the item or 
items to be kept continuously in the fore- 
ground until a more satisfactory habit is 
established, when attention should be directed 
to the next most vital points for the child in 
question. This plan will of course require 
careful study of individual pupils; but it is 
in such differentiation that the highest skill 
of teachers is manifested and their greatest 
enjoyment experienced. Besides, the addi- 
tional time needed for intelligent considera- 
tion of individual pupils will be more than 
counterbalanced by the hours of computing 
percentages which will be eliminated under 
the proposed plan. 

The objection might also be raised that 
the plan suggested is such a radical departure 
from the one in vogue that parents will not 
understand or approve it; and that many of 
them may have little or no comprehension or 
appreciation of the significance of some of the 
items. 

The latter fact is no doubt true; but it is 
likewise equally certain that parents who do 
not comprehend or appreciate the vital 
points which have been enumerated cannot 
too quickly learn to do so, and that there is 
no quicker or surer way to bring about such 
an understanding than to use the suggested 
17 



A PARENT'S JOB 



headings on the school reports of their 
children. 

The argument might also be advanced 
that notations on the report with reference 
to Health or Character Habits, would ex- 
pose children to the ridicule of their class- 
mates. 

This might follow if, as at present, the 
same card were to be used an entire term, 
and frequently left on the desk of the teacher 
or the pupil, subject to inspection by any- 
one who might happen to handle it. How- 
ever, the fact should be considered that not 
only the contents, but also the form and very 
likely the material of the report would be 
changed. Instead of being a continuous 
record of percentages on durable cardboard, 
which is sent back and forth between school 
and home an entire term, it would be a 
monthly statement from teacher to parents 
like the following: 

No. 52 School, Buffalo, N. Y., September, 1917. 

Monthly Statement to Parents Concerning George H. 
Jones, a Pupil of the 7th Grade, for Sept., 1917. 

Studies. He will need daily practice in penmanship 
at home throughout the year. Has not under- 
stood Multiplication of Fractions. 

Habits of Address. His tone of voice in conversation 
is too loud. Untidy in the care of hair and nails. 

Habits of Work. Does not apply himself. Lacks in- 
18 



PERCENTAGES 



dustry. Written work is not neat and well ar- 
ranged. 

Habits of Health. His sitting position is not good. He 
must form the habit of erect position, or faulty- 
breathing and poor health will result. His eyes 
do not seem strong. Better consult an oculist. 

Habits of Character. Is inclined to copy home lessons 
of other pupils. 

(Signed) Clara L. Carr, Teacher. 

Explanations. Important facts concerning pupil's 
lack of progress in subjects studied will be reported 
under Studies. 

Habits of Address include Personal Appearance, Voice, 
Manners and Conversation. 

Habits of Work — Concentration, Promptness, In- 
dustry, Neatness, Rapidity, Accuracy, Thorough- 
ness and Self-reliance. 

Habits of Health — Bodily Position, Breathing, Chest 
Expansion, Eyes and Ears. 

Habits of Character — Obedience, Truthfulness, Hon- 
esty, Modesty, Fidelity, Respect and Reverence. 

(Tear off here) 

To Clara L. Carr, 

Teacher, 7th Grade, No. 52 School, Buffalo, N.Y. 

I have read your September Statement, and shall 
be pleased to co-operate in securing the desired im- 
provement. 

(Signed) Charles W. Jones, Parent. 



19 



A PARENT'S JOB 



" Without a permanent card giving per- 
centages, who could ever tell whether our 
children should be promoted or not, and how 
could their relative rank in the class be 
determined? " parents might inquire. 

Teachers would send on to the next higher 
grade pupils whose knowledge and habits of 
work fitted them for promotion, and those 
who were advanced would be allowed to 
continue in the higher class, if their work 
during the first month of the succeeding 
term should show the requisite capability. 

If for any reason a list of pupils with rela- 
tive rank should be necessary, it could be 
made by the teacher just as readily and 
accurately as it can under the present plan, 
with the additional advantage that pupils 
whose memory is good, but whose habits of 
address, work, health, and character are not 
improving, will not be rated as high as 
classmates with less facility in remembering, 
who are showing greater improvement in 
the essential particulars mentioned. 

Upon first inspecting the proposed report, 
a casual observer may think that, except 
incidentally, habits of address, health, and 
character are strictly within the home en- 
vironment, while all that pertains to studies 
and habits of work belongs to the confines of 
the school. Indeed this is practically the 
status more or less generally existing to-day; 
20 



PERCENTAGES 



and while many pupils do develop well along 
all of the lines enumerated without especial 
emphasis being placed upon them at school, 
the result is usually in a great measure due 
to excellent home environment. 

As a matter of course, a greatly improved 
product is sure to result from closer co- 
operation between the home and the school 
along all of the lines enumerated. In the 
first place the plan will compel both parents 
and teachers to consider these vital points 
seriously with reference to each child at 
least once a month during the school year, 
which is in itself most valuable. Then, too, 
children may be little impressed with what 
is said to them at home concerning voice, 
manners, personal cleanliness, breathing 
habit, or truthfulness; but these criticisms 
will make a greater impression if they are 
also emphasized at school. Likewise, the 
teacher's criticisms of lack of application, 
neatness, penmanship and similar points 
have added force when those at home join 
heartily in urging improvement along the 
same lines. 

The greatest essential in carrying out such 
a plan as the one proposed is a closer ac- 
quaintance between parents and teachers. 
And why not? Teachers are devoting their 
time and effort to the work of instructing 
children. The better the product the schools 
21 



A PARENTS JOB 



turn out, the keener will be the enjoyment 
and satisfaction of those who do its work; 
and so it naturally follows that instructors 
are vitally interested in having their efforts 
supplemented at home in the most intelligent 
manner possible. 

No matter how vast the wealth parents 
may have invested in any business, they 
possess no investment so full of possibilities 
for rich returns in the way of future enjoy- 
ment and satisfaction as are their children. 
Naturally, then, the school in which these 
little ones are being trained for happy, suc- 
cessful living is the enterprise in which their 
deepest interest should lie, and the teachers 
of their children are the business partners 
with whom fathers and mothers should have 
the most cordial and intelligent relations. 

May the day hasten when autocratic 
teachers who regard the parents of their 
pupils as meddlers, and tax-paying parents 
who look down upon the teachers of their 
children as unfortunate individuals compelled 
to work for a living, will be a relic of the past. 
The best way to bring about this state of 
affairs is to displace the idol of percentages 
by the use of aims and ideals that will appeal 
both to home and to school as vital and worth 
while. 



22 



CHAPTER III 

Habits of Address that Parents and 

Teachers Should Co-operate to 

Form 

WE sometimes hear a person spoken 
of as a man of fine address, and the 
inference from such a remark is that 
his appearance, voice, manners, conversation, 
and personality all combine to win the 
favorable attention of those whom he meets. 
Some have had pleasing habits of address 
from childhood. Others have cultivated 
them only after observation and perhaps 
mortifying experiences have demonstrated 
their value. Home is naturally thought of 
as their chief source of culture; yet it cer- 
tainly is not the only factor, nor is it always 
an effective one, since one child of a family 
will be very happy in his manner of meeting 
people, while another will be quite the 
opposite. Although schools, with their cul- 
tural environment, are undoubtedly a strong 
influence in moulding such habits, they are 
certainly not always a compelling force, for 
plenty of college graduates are notably lack- 
ing in this respect, while persons with little 
schooling are sometimes especially gifted. 
23 



A PARENT'S JOB 



Some will assert that tactful, pleasing address 
is an inborn quality; while others will just 
as earnestly argue that close association 
with a person of culture is the deciding factor. 

Two points upon which all will heartily 
agree, however, are that such habits have 
altogether too much bearing on success and 
happiness in life to be left to luck or chance; 
and that a plan which is likely to keep their 
value fresh in the minds of young people is 
well worth a trial. 

Including Habits of Address on school 
report cards will emphasize their practical 
value to teachers and parents, as well as to 
children. Having teachers note thereon, 
from time to time, their observations as to 
the improvement, or lack of growth, pupils 
show in these respects, will also serve to keep 
attention focussed upon the importance of 
attaining them. This plan does not involve 
the introduction of a new subject into the 
school curriculum, nor the study of a special 
text-book. Nevertheless it should make 
teachers and parents more systematic and 
definite in their efforts to improve children 
along these lines; and it should likewise 
prompt them to utilize many opportunities 
which are frequently allowed to pass un- 
improved. 

For instance, even little children in the 
Kindergarten should be led to sense the 
24 



HABITS OF ADDRESS 



charm of a pleasing voice, and this ideal 
should be held up in connection with both 
music and reading instruction throughout 
the grades. What evidence of refinement a 
pleasing voice is! How much it helps, not 
only in making a good first impression, but 
also in constantly keeping us more agreeable 
to friends and acquaintances! How many 
fine, capable people are far less attractive 
and effective in their work than they other- 
wise would be, simply on account of too loud 
or too nasal tones ! Pleasing, well modulated 
tones of voice are largely a matter of habit. 
Since lack of this desirable characteristic is 
so widespread in our land, it is time that 
home and school should work together more 
intelligently to cultivate it. 

In the plastic period of the primary grades, 
what a privilege it is for teachers to lay the 
foundation for the ideals expressed in the 
following lines: — 

" Hearts, like doors, open with ease 
To very tiny keys; 
And don't forget that some of these 
Are Thank You, Sir, and If You Please." 

No one can measure the power of a smile, 
It makes the way shorter by many a mile. 

A happy smile, like a magic wand, 
Will open every heart; 
A gracious way in what we do and say 
Is childhood's happiest art. 

25 



A PARENT'S JOB 



" It is all very well to be happy 
When life flows on like a song; 
But the man worth while 
Is one who will smile 
When everything goes dead wrong." 

" If you think you've missed the mark, 
Use a smile; 

If your life seems in the dark, 
Why, just smile. 
Don't give up in any fight; 
There's a coming day that's bright, 
There's a dawn beyond the night, 
If you smile." 

" Politeness is to do and say 
The Kindest Thing in the Kindest Way." 

" Kind hearts are more than coronets 
And simple faith than Norman blood." 



These lines, or others of a similar character, 
should be memorized in the First and Second 
Grades, often repeated thereafter throughout 
the elementary school, and daily applied as 
standards. The best ingenuity and en- 
deavor of teachers should be used to make the 
ideals they express a part of the very warp 
and woof of the minds and hearts of their 
pupils. 

The following poem should be memorized 
in the Third Grade, or, perhaps better, in 
the Second, and frequently recited and dis- 
cussed in the succeeding years: — 
26 



HABITS OF ADDRESS 



LET US SMILE 1 

" The thing that goes the farthest toward making life 
worth while, 

That costs the least and does the most, is just a 
pleasant smile; 

The smile that bubbles from the heart, that loves its 
fellow-men 

Will drive away the cloud of gloom and coax the sun 
again. 

It's full of worth and goodness, too, with manly- 
kindness blent, 

It's worth a million dollars, and it doesn't cost a cent. 

There is no room for sadness when we see a cheery- 
smile; 

It always has the same good look, — it's never out 
of style; 

It nerves us on to try again, when failure makes us 
blue; 

The dimples of encouragement are good for me and you. 

It pays a higher interest, for it is merely lent; 

It's worth a million dollars, and doesn't cost a cent." 

A smile comes very easy, — you can wrinkle up with 

cheer 
A hundred times more quickly than you can shed a 

tear. 

It ripples out, moreover, to the heartstrings that will 

tug, 
And always leaves an echo that is very like a hug. 
So smile away. Folk understand what by a smile is 

meant; 
It's worth a million dollars, and doesn't cost a cent." 

— Baltimore American. 

1 From The Bright Side, by Hon. Charles R. Skinner. Reprinted by 
permission of Frank D. Beattys & Company, Publishers. 

27 



A PARENT'S JOB 



Surely the occasional tactful introduction 
of one of these optimistic rhymes, either for 
a class or for an individual, at just the right 
time and place, should be a great help in 
forming the habit of a smile and a please 
with every request, a gracious acknowledg- 
ment and a heartfelt " Thank you " for every 
favor, no matter how small. The next and 
most important step is to make young folk 
realize that back of all true politeness is the 
Christ-like spirit of unselfish service. Such 
organizations as the Boy Scouts and the 
Camp Fire Girls, with their commendable 
ideals of service and efficiency, are helpful 
allies of parents and teachers in establishing 
this ideal. 

Who can estimate the power of the habit 
of gracious deference? Who can compute 
the value of a smile? What a wonderful 
talisman each is in winning and holding inter- 
est and friendship! Neither is necessarily the 
possession only of those who are so fortunate 
as to be born with unusually happy disposi- 
tions; but, like all other habits, both may be 
cultivated, if children are persistently made 
to realize the value of pleasing manners in 
winning the truest happiness and success. 

Very early in the grades, children learn 

that certain colors look well together in their 

drawings, and that others do not. They are 

also told in simple talks on hygiene that 

28 



HABITS OF ADDRESS 



cleanliness is next to godliness, and that 
clothing should allow the muscles of the body 
perfect freedom. In correlation with such 
facts, it is possible to lay a foundation for the 
standards that clothes should be comfortable 
and healthful; that simplicity is the best 
taste; that the few colors worn at one time 
should harmonize; that mended clothing is 
not bad form, if the repairing is neatly done; 
and that soiled or unclean clothes, no matter 
how costly, are never good form. 

Probably most of the points that have been 
mentioned, as well as the requisite information 
in regard to caring for the hair and keeping 
the nose, teeth, nails, and shoes clean, have 
for years past been well taught by many 
teachers of the Primary and Intermediate 
Grades. The failure has been in placing too 
little emphasis on forming the habits, and 
in having too little team work of parents and 
teachers in keeping the attention of young 
folk riveted upon the need until the desired 
habit is formed. 

On the subject of conversation, very little 
should be said to children, until they are 
about ten years old. At that time attention 
may be tactfully called to the value of being 
able to introduce a sensible topic of conversa- 
tion, and likewise of continuing the talk on 
a subject introduced by some one else. How 
to be a good listener • — an art, by the way, 
29 



A PARENT'S JOB 



that many folk have never learned — should 
be explained and its importance impressed. 
Gaining facility in conversation, like other 
points in this chapter, is primarily a feature 
of home training. Yet the fact that teachers 
occasionally refer to the subject in brief morn- 
ing exercises and that they at other opportune 
times, now and then, speak to pupils privately 
about it, and sometimes note their growth or 
lack of progress in this particular on the 
monthly report cards, is sure to count 
largely toward its attainment. 

A point to be kept in mind in dealing with 
children is that they are wonderfully im- 
pressionable. Even a suggestion from a 
tactful teacher, especially from one whom a 
pupil admires and respects, is often sufficient 
to establish the formation of a desired habit. 
A friend of mine who has excellent teeth 
attributes this possession largely to the fact 
that in his fourteenth year a teacher whom 
he liked inquired how he kept them so fine. 
As a matter of fact, up to that particular 
moment there was no explanation for their 
quality, except that like Topsy they had 
" just growed " that way. That very day, 
however, the lad invested in dental floss, 
brush and tooth powder, and during the 
years that have intervened has probably 
never failed to give his teeth a thorough 
cleaning before going to bed at night. Proud 
30 



HABITS OF ADDRESS 



of the fact that someone whom he respected 
had admired his teeth, he was stimulated to 
keep them in a condition that would always 
merit the good opinion of others. 

Another strong argument for the closer 
co-operation of parents and teachers along 
the lines suggested is that habits formed in 
childhood become just as natural to a person 
as sleeping or waking; and that bad habits 
stick just as fast as good ones. No matter 
how much one may wish to change a habit 
which he has discovered is not in accordance 
with refined standards, the old way is likely 
to crop out to his own confusion and regret 
or to that of someone who is deeply interested 
in him. 

How many of us know persons who are 
careless in some such personal refinement as 
the care of the nails, teeth, or clothing, or 
are crude in some other particular, not be- 
cause they fail to realize its value now, but 
for the reason that the wrong habit, which was 
formed in childhood, persists in asserting 
itself. Psychologists claim that many of 
the most vital personal habits are formed 
before the teens are reached. How regret- 
table it is, then, that teachers are required 
to spend time in communicating to parents 
the trivial information that their children 
are a few percent higher or lower in the 
various studies pursued, while the vital 
31 



A PARENT'S JOB 



habits which count so much towards future 
comfort, happiness and success are allowed 
to pass without consideration. 

A minister who chanced to call on a busi- 
ness man while some high school lads were 
applying for a position, expressed surprise 
that his host engaged the one who was most 
humbly dressed and had no recommendations. 
" Oh, he had recommendations 1" replied 
the keen man of affairs, " and far better than 
the others, since they were not in an envel- 
ope. Though his clothes were a little worn, 
they were very neat, and the same tidiness 
was evident in every part of his person. He 
waited quietly for his turn, while the others 
meddled impatiently with everything within 
reach. He smiled frankly, looked me in the 
eyes, and answered intelligently when I 
engaged him in conversation, while the other 
applicants were ill at ease. He quickly 
picked up the papers which the stenographer 
clumsily dropped without showing any 
amusement; and he was far more interested 
in the work and the opportunities for ad- 
vancement than in the amount of pay or the 
length of hours. I do not care for better 
recommendations than these. Do you ? " 



32 



CHAPTER IV 

Habits of Work that are Essential to 
Efficiency 

PROMPTNESS in getting at the work 
in hand is one of the habits that 
should first enlist the co-operation of 
parents and teachers in training children, 
for the fact that a task is work and must be 
done seems to make almost anything else 
more attractive. " Just for a few moments " 
the other thing is indulged in; somehow the 
proposed " few minutes " expand into many, 
with the result that the work is often put 
off until too late for anything more than a 
pretense of doing it. 

From the moment a child has a definite 
duty to perform, that should be placed first 
on his program. He should be made to 
understand clearly that the game, the other 
work, or whatever the counter-attraction 
happens to be, will surely prove more en- 
joyable if undertaken after his mind is free 
concerning the thing which must be done; 
that far keener pleasure attends the work 
when time permits a businesslike, ship- 
shape job; and that the anticipated greater 
fun from the substitute occupation is sure 
33 



A PARENT'S JOB 



to be more than offset by the chagrin attend- 
ing a poorly finished task. 

This sounds like preaching, and will 
amount to little more if the curtain is 
allowed to fall with words alone; but parents 
and teachers must see to it that the most 
important part of the drama, the translation 
of the words into realities, relentlessly fol- 
lows. When such a plan is conscientiously 
and persistently followed, the desired habit 
should be the sequel. 

Closely allied with promptness in attack- 
ing work is the ability to apply one's mind 
to the task in hand and to keep at it with 
intelligence and earnestness until the fin- 
ish, — or, in other words, concentration. 
This is the habit of work which probably 
counts more than any other toward efficiency 
and success. Young children naturally pos- 
sess very little power in this respect. They 
begin some work enthusiastically, maybe; 
but soon relapse into dreaminess, or their 
minds and fingers fly to a new something, 
which, for the time being, makes a stronger 
appeal. The task assigned may be entirely 
neglected, or they flit back and forth from 
it to the diverting attractions, — with the 
same result in each case, — namely, little or 
nothing accomplished. 

Earnest effort should be made to have 
children gain the habit of concentration. 
34 



HABITS OF WORK 



First of all, little folk, both at home and in 
school, should be given only work that is 
within their capability, and the directions 
should be so clear that they will know 
exactly what is to be done. The conditions 
should be made as favorable as possible in the 
beginning; minimum opportunity for daw- 
dling should be permitted, and tendencies in 
that direction should be religiously frowned 
upon. The great practical value of keeping 
one's mind on the work in hand should be 
emphasized; a time limit should often be 
set for a task, and where a child has work of 
about the same difficulty, at regular intervals 
for some length of time, the liberal period 
allowed at first should be gradually de- 
creased, care being taken, however, to see 
that the standard of his product steadily 
improves. 

Even a slight gain in ability to concen- 
trate should be heartily commended, and 
sometimes rewarded. As facility is de- 
veloped, the surrounding conditions should 
be made less favorable, since, in later years, 
it may often be necessary to apply one's 
mind closely to work in a distracting en- 
vironment. Finally, intelligent and per- 
sistent co-operation between home and school 
should be kept up until the habit of con- 
centrating on the work in hand is well 
formed. At first thought one might exclaim, 
35 



A PARENTS JOB 



" How ridiculous to talk to young folk 
about concentration! Have not parents 
and teachers enough to do in helping chil- 
dren learn lessons, without troubling their 
heads with such big words?" "A rose by 
any other name will smell as sweet." So 
the idea of applying one's mind to the work 
in hand, and sticking to it until it is well 
done, will be just as effective by whatso- 
ever name expressed. Incidentally, too, 
there is no better way to help children learn 
lessons than to teach them to concentrate. 

It is indeed most unfortunate that primary 
grade teachers often have such large classes 
that in the " Busy Work " periods, at least, 
they cannot readily keep in touch with 
what their pupils are doing; and so in this 
critical, formative period, dawdling habits 
are formed, instead of those that make for 
efficiency. With such large classes, it is 
far better to have part attend school in 
the morning and the rest of the class in the 
afternoon, for then teachers are able to 
give sufficient direction and supervision 
to prevent such lapses. 

Another habit of work that should be 
zealously inculcated in early childhood is 
neatness, and by this is meant not only 
cleanliness and freedom from soiling, but 
also orderly arrangement and all other ele- 
ments of appearance that constitute a ship- 
36 



HABITS OF WORK 



shape job. Teachers in the lower grades 
sometimes speak of certain pupils as natu- 
rally neat or dainty. In the opinion of the 
author, however, such children were prob- 
ably born with the same instincts, as far as 
untidiness and lack of order are concerned, 
that other infants possess, but were fortu- 
nate in having mothers whose dainty per- 
sonality early impressed itself upon them. 
The remarkable influence of early impressions 
is one of the chief reasons why parents should 
begin training their children in neatness at 
the earliest possible moment. As soon as 
little folk can understand, they should be 
made to put up their playthings and clothing 
in an orderly way. Personal cleanliness 
should be persistently urged; slovenly re- 
suits in any work should not be accepted 
from them; and, no matter how small the 
task assigned, they should daily be en- 
couraged to take pride in a shipshape prod- 
uct and to feel keen chagrin at every failure 
to attain such a result., 

The rapidity with which children will form 
neat, orderly habits of work when these few 
sensible rules are applied is most gratifying. 
The tenacity with which untidy and dis- 
orderly habits will cling through the ele- 
mentary grades, high school, and college, if 
intelligent, concerted action to repress them 
is not taken at an early period, would be 
37 ' 



A PARENT'S JOB 



almost unbelievable if there were not so 
many living proofs of it. The fact that some 
distinguished men have not been neat and 
orderly in their habits of work is occasionally 
cited in extenuation of the failing; but this 
is begging the question. Instead of being a 
sign of genius, such laxity is unquestionable 
evidence of defective early training. Of 
course no one can prove that Horace Greeley 
would have been a more successful editor of 
the New York Tribune had he possessed 
the habit of legible penmanship, or that 
Coleridge, or other men of genius sometimes 
mentioned in this connection, would have 
become more luminous stars in the firmament 
of fame had their methods of work been 
more orderly and business-like; but that all 
would have achieved higher efficiency, and 
been spared much personal chagrin, is alto- 
gether probable. 

Accuracy is a habit of work usually re- 
sulting from concentration, but it should 
nevertheless receive especial attention itself. 
As soon as children are old enough to appreci- 
ate the facts, they should be frequently told 
how much exactness counts in mechanics 
and in business, and that nearly or almost 
right will not do in those realms, but abso- 
lutely correct alone passes. They should also 
be encouraged to find and discuss illustra- 
tions of such facts. Manifestations of 
38 



HABITS OF WORK 



accuracy should be heartily commended, and 
evidences of the opposite tendency even 
more earnestly discouraged. The chief thing, 
perhaps, is not to let little children be satis- 
fied with incorrect results. Commendation 
and rewards can in this connection, as in all 
training of children, be used with good effect. 

Rapidity is another habit likely to result 
from concentration, yet it is also one that 
parents should begin to cultivate at the 
earliest possible moment. If little folk are 
slow or dreamy in their movements, it should 
not be considered a childish trait which they 
will outgrow, but the beginning of a status 
that will continue indefinitely, unless nipped 
in the bud. 

Everything possible should be done to 
make a child's ideal the swiftest action and 
quickest thinking compatible with neatness 
and accuracy. " Slow but sure " may be 
true of a certain type of mind, but as a rule 
quick thinking and accuracy go hand in 
hand. What was said under Concentration 
about the prevention of dawdling is applicable 
here, as is also the use of the time limit in 
assigning children's work. Healthful games 
requiring quickness of mind and body may 
also be employed with excellent effect in 
breaking up dawdling habits. We read of 
agricultural institutions that are training 
pupils to make two blades of grass grow 
39 



A PARENT'S JOB 



where but one is now produced, and we 
applaud this work since it means much for 
the future of our country. It is equally plain 
that if parents and teachers train children to 
increase their rapidity of thought and action, 
a corresponding gain in efficiency will result. 

Anyone who can contrast the schools of 
thirty years ago with those of to-day is im- 
pressed with the great difference revealed 
in the matter of self-reliance and appetite 
for hard work, much, it is regrettable to 
admit, in favor of former-day instruction. 
The large majority of a class will generally 
do fairly well what a teacher has shown 
them, step by step; but if one new point, no 
matter how simple, is included, many pupils 
are likely to be floored. Ability to dig some- 
thing out for themselves or keen delight 
in overcoming difficulties is too commonly 
lacking. 

There are two causes for this condition. 
One, the lack of home duties, has been dis- 
cussed in a preceding chapter. The other is 
that, in the revolt from former methods of 
teaching, the idea of making work interest- 
ing for children has been overdone. Kinder- 
garten methods have been carried too far 
in the grades. Teachers are showing pupils 
how to do too many things that they, with 
reasonable application, might work out alone. 
Not being required to rely upon themselves, 
40 



HABITS OF WORK 



children naturally gain little self-reliance; 
having little or no practice in overcoming 
difficulties, it follows, as a matter of course, 
that no especial zeal in that direction is 
aroused. 

Parents do not hold children accountable 
for many home duties, largely because it is 
often less trouble to do things themselves 
than to see to it that little folk do them 
satisfactorily. In many instances, too, 
fathers and mothers want their offspring to 
have an easier and pleasanter childhood than 
it was their privilege to enjoy, and freedom 
from home duties seems to be the most 
direct way to that end. Besides, their chil- 
dren may be taunted by playmates for 
doing what the maid or the hired man does 
in the house next door or across the street, 
and thus the family pride is hurt. The family 
pride that is really worth while, however, 
is that which parents may take in the 
strength and efficiency their children show 
when the real problems of life are encountered 
in later years. Therefore let there be regular 
home duties for young folk and let there be 
included now and then some that require 
reasonably prolonged effort and grit. Let 
the fact also be remembered that it is just 
as important to make a shipshape job of 
mowing the lawn or washing the dishes as 
of preparing a written arithmetic lesson, 
41 



A PARENT'S JOB 



since one set of duties has just as much 
bearing on the matter of habit formation as 
the other. 

On the school side, let teachers cease undue 
helping, and thus give pupils opportunity 
for more individual thinking and effort. In- 
stead of minutely explaining the new step 
in the problems of to-morrow, let pupils 
experience the joy of first trying to think it 
out for themselves. In place of correcting 
and re-correcting the same points in com- 
position, have children carefully inspect 
their own papers, or those of a classmate, to 
see how many mistakes they can find out 
themselves in a certain number of minutes. 
All these and other plans for developing 
judgment and self-reliance, which will be 
mentioned in greater detail in succeeding 
chapters, make for strength and ability. 
From the beginning, respect for labor, no 
matter how humble, and disapproval of 
shirking and idleness, in whatsoever station 
found, should be earnestly fostered. The 
lines, 

" Easily gained things 

Are easily lost; 

That obtained without effort 

Is worth what it cost," 

make a very good motto for the first three 

grades. If the following poem is learned in 

the third or fourth grade, and frequently re- 

42 



HABITS OF WORK 



peated during the years that follow, it can 
be made an excellent help in establishing the 
right attitude toward hard work: 

IT COULDN'T BE DONE 

" Somebody said, e It couldn't be done,' 
But he, with a chuckle, replied, 
That maybe it couldn't, but he would be one 
Not to say so, until he had tried. 
So he started right in, with the trace 
Of a grin on his face, 
If he worried, he hid it; 

And he started to sing, as he tackled the thing 
That couldn't be done, — 
And he did it. 

' Oh,' somebody scoffed, ' You couldn't do that! 

At least, no one ever has done it ' — 

But he took off his coat, and he took off his hat, 

And before anyone knew, he'd begun it. 

With the trace of a grin, and a lift of the chin, 

Without any doubting or quitting, 

He started to sing, as he tackled the thing 

That couldn't be done, — 

And he did it. 

There are thousands to tell you, ' It couldn't be done,' 

There are thousands to prophesy failure, 

There are thousands to point out to you one by one, 

The dangers that wait to assail you; 

But start right in, with the trace of a grin, 

Take off your coat, and go to it; 

Just start to sing, as you tackle the thing 

That couldn't be done, 

And you'll do it." 

43 



A PARENT'S JOB 



Longfellow's " A Psalm of Life," and 
"The Builders," Carlisle's " To-day," and 
many other poems, far superior to the above 
lines from a literary standpoint, are also 
excellent to use in fostering these ideals; 
but none appeal to children more effectively 
in securing results than the quaint stanzas 
quoted. 

One of the remarkable things about the 
United States is the very large number of 
men who with little school education and 
without favorable home environment have 
achieved high distinction in the various 
callings of life. Chill penury compelled a 
self-reliance and an ability to overcome 
obstacles which more than made up for lack 
of school and home advantages. Not only 
must our children be taught to honor such 
men by celebrating their birthdays, but 
they must be made to realize that it was 
through doing hard things and overcoming 
difficulties that these men gained such great 
power for usefulness. By joining with 
teachers in implanting these sturdy ideals, 
parents may start their children in life's 
work, charged with the spirit, — 

" Let us then be up and doing, 
With a heart for any fate, 
Still achieving, still pursuing, 
Learn to labor and to wait." 



44 



CHAPTER V 
Some Essential Habits of Character 

OBEDIENCE is a characteristic that 
parents should cultivate in their 
children, since health, happiness, and 
even life itself may often be jeopardized by 
the lack of it. Its formation, too, is pri- 
marily the parents' job, and should not, — as 
unfortunately it often is, — be foisted upon 
teachers. That there has been a deplorable 
falling off in home discipline in recent years, 
teachers can bear indisputable witness; in- 
deed, even in streets and other public places 
where children are wont to congregate, a 
casual observer will readily reach a similar 
conclusion. Ex-President William H. Taft, 
in an interesting and instructive article on 
"The College Slouch," 1 says: 

" One of the weaknesses of our present life 
is the fact that in the family and in the 
education that we give our children at home 
we coddle them. We permit them to take 
the line of least resistance. We let them 
study what they wish to study, and we are 
loth to force upon them the mental training 
that comes from their studying subjects 

i Published in the May, 1914, number of the Ladies' Home Journal. 

45 



A PARENT'S JOB 



knowledge of which they do not acquire 
easily or rapidly. We deny to our children 
the great and indispensable good that comes 
from discipline. Character is formed by the 
practice of self-restraint and self-sacrifice, 
by overcoming obstacles. Muscles are made 
useful by the constant training of them to 
the purposes to which they are ultimately 
to be devoted, and the same principle exactly 
applies to the development of the intelli- 
gence and to the building of the character of 
our boys. In this age, when we have had 
such great material growth and when so 
many have the means of making life easy for 
themselves, parents fall into the habit of 
letting children do about as they please and 
of taking no pains to see to it that their 
children are made to know that they have 
some duties, that they owe respect to the 
opinions and wishes of their parents, and 
that life is not all one sweet song. 

" It is not an edifying sight in a public 
dining-room in a university town, which 
the families of the college boys frequent in 
their visits, to observe a fond father, mother 
and sister sit down to luncheon with a young 
hopeful whose dress and bearing indicate 
that he is in the college swim, and to note 
the fact that after one course he cannot 
restrain himself, but must have a cigarette 
and blow the smoke about to create an 
46 



HABITS OF CHARACTER 



atmosphere that his father and mother 
breathe with difficulty but think all right 
because their boy makes it. The very man- 
ner of holding the cigarette carries the indi- 
cation of a lack of that respectful bearing 
that the boy ought to be taught to have and 
made to manifest. . . . 

" This slouchy bearing is due to two 
causes. The first is the lack of discipline in 
the family, acquired before the student 
comes to college. I don't mean to say that 
the love of a boy for his parents is diminished, 
but the necessity for that respectful attitude 
toward them is much minimized by the fault 
of the parents themselves. ... It is perhaps 
an exaggerated story, but it is told of a fond 
mother who wrote to the head of a school 
that she hoped her boy would not be dis- 
ciplined too much, ' because,' she said, ' we 
never disciplined or punished him at home 
except in self-defense.' " 

The first lesson in obedience should come to 
the uncrowned king of the nursery through 
the discovery that mother and other zealously 
devoted subjects cease rushing to the crib- 
side at his every beck and call. The afore- 
said innocent-looking ball of flesh and blood 
and cry, being — all appearances to the 
contrary notwithstanding — a despot of ultra 
imperious tendencies, lifts up his voice in 
rebellious lamentations at such lese-majesty 
47 



A PARENT'S JOB 



as long as lungs and throat can stand the 
strain, when, soothed by the magic influence 
of a tiny thumb, he drops off into dreamland, 
bearing a more or less indelible impression 
that he has not had his way. Then the fond 
mother, more troubled inwardly than the 
shrieking infant himself, travels by fast 
express to the realm of Morpheus, happy in 
the thought that self-control lasted long 
enough to let the wilful midget monarch 
cry it out. 

Wise is the mother who, after satisfying 
herself that no reasonable cause for dis- 
comfort exists, maintains a spirit of firmness 
until complete conquest is made, — wise 
not only in sparing herself the frazzled nerves 
and dragged-out existence that accompany 
long-continued loss of sleep; but also in 
laying, thus early, an excellent foundation 
for the habit of obedience. The effort may 
cost many a hard wrench of the heart-strings, 
for colic, teeth, and divers other fancied ills 
will arise in imagination to accuse her, and 
the next-door neighbors may even fully 
concur in the accusation. Nevertheless, as 
vigorous crying is Nature's most effective 
agency in dispelling colic, so the gain in 
mother's poise and in the good behavior of 
the child will prove the best possible anti- 
dote for false impressions. 

This well-begun process of curbing baby's 
48 



HABITS OF CHARACTER 



will must of course be continued wisely and 
persistently as the creeping and toddling 
stages come on, regardless of the fact that 
" He is so little," or " It is so cute." A 
smiling but firm" No," insisting upon rapid 
capitulation as to the point at issue, swift 
banishment to cribdom, or quickly applied, 
vigorous spanking in case of continued re- 
bellious spirit, are the most successful tactics 
to employ. As the infant increases in age 
and stature, a concise statment of the why 
may be profitably added to the smiling but 
firm " No." The denial of a coveted privi- 
lege may also be substituted for banishment 
or whipping; but rarely, if ever, should the 
rapid surrender of the will, or a punishment 
commensurate with the offense, be omitted. 
From the outset, instant obedience, accom- 
panied by a gracious, respectful spirit, should 
be the standard sought. If this policy is 
followed, ability to check self-will, respect 
for authority, and a teachable spirit will be 
so well established in children by the time 
school age is reached, that, greatly to the 
advantage of all concerned, little or no 
severe disciplining is likely to be necessary 
thereafter. 

There are zealous students of child-study 
who most heartily disapprove of having dis- 
obedient or rebellious children capitulate, 
except through their own initiative, but advo- 
49 



A PARENT'S JOB 



cate maintaining a cold exterior toward 
such offenders, for weeks if need be, until 
their error is voluntarily acknowledged; 
and under no circumstances would such ad- 
vocates use corporal punishment. 

At first thought these propositions seem 
plausible, but, like many other educational 
ideas apparently excellent in theory, they 
are altogether impracticable when put to 
the test. For instance, the assertion has 
been made that a child should never be re- 
quired to learn what he does not fully com- 
prehend. Following this theory, all but the 
very smallest numbers, division of fractions, 
ideas of the earth, mountains, and many 
other things now taught children would 
necessarily be postponed for years. Being 
essential to progress, these facts are presented 
in the lower grades, the full comprehension 
coming with maturer years. So the child 
who defers to the judgment of his elders, 
without being given all the time he wishes to 
reason out why, gains far more through form- 
ing the habit of prompt obedience than he 
can possibly lose by the repression of per- 
sonal reasoning or initiative. Waiting for 
children voluntarily to acknowledge their 
fault is not practical because the great ma- 
jority of parents have neither time nor pa- 
tience to pursue such a course, and likewise 
because the products of this type of discipline 
50 



HABITS OF CHARACTER 



do not, to say the least, justify the claims 
that have been made for it. 

As to punishments, while denial of privi- 
leges, sentences to seclusion, and the like 
may often be fully sufficient, all will fre- 
quently be more effective if preceded by a 
spanking that smarts; and physical chastise- 
ment alone will ofttimes prove sufficiently 
effective with little children. Probably no 
utterance of Solomon can be more readily 
verified in actual life to-day, than that 
" Sparing the rod spoils the child." The 
opponents of corporal punishment make 
much of the point that whipping is usually 
done while angry. Why not? Should chil- 
dren grow to manhood without learning that 
there is such a thing as righteous anger, and 
that conduct which arouses it merits and 
receives fitting punishment? Surely there is 
plenty of authority, scriptural and otherwise, 
for such procedure. Of course other forms 
of punishment are often preferable, and 
brutal or unreasonable whipping should never 
be given. The important fact is that with 
young children slight punishments of any 
kind, applied at the psychological time and 
in an impressive way, are most efficacious in 
accomplishing the immediate aim, and like- 
wise in establishing such habits of obedience 
that severe chastisement of any nature be- 
comes quite unnecessary in later years. 
51 



A PARENT'S JOB 



One point that should receive wide public 
recognition is that children who have not 
learned to obey at home should not be per- 
mitted to make nuisances of themselves in 
school, since such monopoly of the teacher's 
time is not fair to their classmates. The 
sentiment in every community should be 
such that school would be regarded as a 
great privilege, the denial of which must in- 
evitably follow persistent misbehavior. After 
this has become a uniformly recognized 
status, — and it will when parents begin to 
take as much intelligent interest in the school 
work of their children as they would in the 
training of a horse or a dog they chance to 
own, — the habit of obedience will be estab- 
lished in the early years of home training 
far better than it now is, for then disobedient 
children will have to attend some private 
institution that, in return for liberal tuition, 
may tolerate such conduct. 

Truthfulness and honesty are two 
closely related traits which also need much 
attention in childhood. Parents are some- 
times horrified at discovering untruthful or 
dishonest tendencies in their little folk, im- 
agining these to be unmistakable signs of 
degeneracy. However, it is no more reason- 
able to expect perfection in children in these 
respects than it would be to look forward to 
their coming into the world fully proficient 
52 



HABITS OF CHARACTER 



in the use of English. In an environment of 
culture, the habit of correct speech may be 
formed with little or no special teaching; 
through association with truthful, honest 
parents and playmates, right habits, as far 
as the two traits in question are concerned, 
may be developed. Nevertheless, as a rule, 
long-continued, definite, painstaking train- 
ing is essential in forming correct habits of 
either speech or of character. 

First of all, parents must be free from 
deception and absolutely honest themselves, 
since " Little pitchers have big ears," and 
a remarkable capacity for imitation. Then 
a single instance of untruthfulness or dis- 
honesty, no matter how small, should not 
be allowed to pass without the seriousness of 
the offense and the danger of repetition being 
impressed. If similar lapses occur, — and 
very likely they will, — the child should be 
banished to seclusion with the dominant 
thought in mind that anyone guilty of such 
moral weakness is not fit to associate with 
the rest of the family. This plan, faithfully 
followed, together with the moral and spiri- 
tual influences of home and church, should 
develop an abiding sense of truth and 
honesty; but when such a course fails, more 
strenuous measures must be employed until 
the desired habits are well grounded. The 
chief difficulty is that children who are adept 
53 



A PARENT'S JOB 



at deception may seem exemplary to parents 
and yet be untruthful or dishonest if their 
desires happen to be more readily satisfied 
thereby. For this reason, teachers should 
promptly communicate with parents when 
a tendency to lie, copy, cheat, or steal is 
observed; and after such report has been 
made, earnest co-operation between home 
and school to correct the tendency should 
ensue. 

Of course if anything valuable is taken by 
a child in school, word is usually sent home 
without delay; but thefts of trifling value 
and reasonably well-justified suspicions of 
stealing, falsehood, copying, and cheating 
are frequently not reported to parents. " An 
unpardonable breach of duty on the part 
of school authorities," one might conclude. 
Nevertheless parents are chiefly responsible 
for this laxity, because of the attitude they 
often show toward such reports. Instead of 
recognizing that lapses of this kind are more 
or less common in little children, regardless 
of pedigree or social standing, and earnestly 
joining forces to correct such tendencies, 
they seem to regard them as serious reflec- 
tions on the family honor, to be hidden or 
denied rather than recognized and cured. 
To protect themselves, children charge the 
misdemeanor upon others; and altogether 
too frequently parents not only side with this 
54 



HABITS OF CHARACTER 



view of the case, but sometimes even score 
the teacher in language that would not sound 
well in polite society. 

The best remedy for this regrettable con- 
dition is to have such a good mutual under- 
standing between parents and teachers that 
misjudgments and recriminations will be 
avoided. Then with the best good of the 
children uppermost in mind, home and 
school will earnestly and actively try to 
supplement each other's efforts. A live 
Parent-Teachers' Association in every school 
may be excellent help in accomplishing both 
of these much to be desired ends. 

Paradoxical as it may seem, thrift and 
generosity are two traits that may appro- 
priately be considered together, since, as a 
rule, the latter must more or less necessarily 
be preceded by the former. Children should 
be urged not to be wasteful of food, clothing, 
and other possessions, and they should also 
be taught the joy of sharing with others. 
Upon reaching the period of vigorous long- 
ing for sweets, toys, and various pleasures, 
the fact that the money used to pay for all 
these is acquired by hard effort, and that 
many people do not have funds to supply the 
necessities of life, should be tactfully im- 
pressed; and no matter how wealthy parents 
may be, a reasonable limit of expenditure for 
any of the purposes named should be main- 
55 



A PARENT'S JOB 



tained. Instead of being allowed a multi- 
plicity of possessions, children should be led 
to" experience the deep joy of making less 
fortunate little tots more happy by pur- 
chasing wisely for them. 

To help young folk appreciate the value 
of money, it is an excellent plan to pay them 
for the satisfactory performance of some 
daily home duties and have them keep a 
systematic account of receipts and expendi- 
tures when they are old enough to do so. 
The money thus earned, together with the 
various small gifts of cash received from time 
to time, should be placed in the little home 
bank, which every child should own. If 
required for necessary personal expenses, all 
such money might be taken out later; but 
wherever possible, part of it should be de- 
posited, when amounts of five or ten dollars 
have accumulated, in a local Savings Bank. 
In this connection, the rapidity with which 
money earns money, and the idea that a 
penny saved is a penny earned, should often 
be attractively presented. The wisdom of 
economy in small expenses through a little 
personal effort, such as cleaning one's own 
shoes rather than hiring it done, or walking 
distances not unreasonably long, if time per- 
mits, instead of riding on a street car, should 
be brought to the attention of children at 
opportune times. 

56 



HABITS OF CHARACTER 



The fact that all who are blessed with a 
fair amount of prosperity have an obligation 
to assist in the support of religious and 
philanthropic institutions and movements, 
aiming to alleviate the condition of the un- 
fortunate and needy, should also be early 
inculcated. Many churches, realizing the 
power of habit formed in childhood, are 
taking the lead in this line of education by 
trying to have every member of a family, 
old enough to attend services, make use of 
weekly contribution envelopes, no matter 
how small an amount of money may be 
placed therein. 

Cultivating the habit of not appropriating 
the best of food, comfort, or pleasure for 
one's self, if the opportunity is afforded, 
often requires long-continued and untiring 
effort, for it is as natural as breathing for 
many children to want the largest, the best, 
or the most. However, when parents pursue 
this failing tactfully, it is likely to disappear, 
especially if the teaching is illustrated by 
example as well as by precept. 

Modesty, in all senses of the word, is also 
a quality which parents should earnestly 
strive to inculcate. If children are to grow 
up free from vanity and conceit, they must 
not, as little tots, become impressed with the 
idea they are especially smart or beautiful; 
if they are to develop into pure, chaste men 
57 



A PARENT'S JOB 



and women, modesty as to exposure of the 
body and abhorrence of the suggestive or 
vile in conversation or action must begin 
in the nursery period. Strict privacy in the 
matter both of dressing and of attending to 
necessary bodily functions, and great delicacy 
in mentioning anything with reference to 
the latter, except to parents, is one of the 
first steps. The example of all adults with 
whom children are intimately associated, in 
these and similar particulars, is likewise a 
strong factor in developing this trait. It is 
also most vital that parents preserve such 
confidential relations with their children that 
pernicious friendships or bad influences may 
be quickly discovered. 

By confidentially informing parents of 
evidences that seem to indicate immodesty, 
and by tactfully giving a word or suggestion 
to individual pupils at opportune times, 
teachers may be of great service in helping 
to cultivate this vital trait. Then, if in 
addition to the measures suggested, the 
numerous pertinent indirect influences of 
home and school are utilized to impress boys 
with the ideal that 

" My strength is as the strength of ten 
Because my heart is pure," 

and to inspire girls with the earnest conviction 

that their greatest personal charm and power 

58 



HABITS OF CHARACTER 



will flower in gracious modesty, the efforts 
of parents and teachers to implant this much 
to be desired trait should result most happily. 

Appreciation is another quality which 
should be carefully cultivated in childhood. 
A home in which young folk show little or 
no consideration for the parents who are 
giving so much of strength, comfort, and 
pleasure for them, is indeed a sad sight. 
While it is common in such instances to 
criticise the children for selfishness and in- 
gratitude, the fault is usually not so much 
theirs as their parents'. The latter have 
given everything, but required nothing; and 
it is natural for children to accept it all as a 
matter of course and think, " Father and 
mother do not care; all they want is for us 
to have a good time." 

The most regrettable feature of it all is 
that the opposite status might just as readily 
prevail, if, in the process of doing and giving, 
children were tactfully led to realize that all 
of these benefits and pleasures cost father and 
mother time and effort for which loving, 
thoughtful appreciation now and devoted 
watchfulness in later years are the natural 
sequence; and that such appreciation con- 
sists not only in respectful words and manner, 
but in deeds that save steps and show con- 
cern for comfort. This course lightens and 
cheers the lot of parents; and children from 
59 



A PARENT'S JOB 



families where such a condition prevails 
carry sweetness and refinement into every 
circle with which they become identified. 

Fidelity to principle, to duty, or to any 
person or cause entitled to one's devotion, 
is another trait that can not be too earnestly 
fostered in youthful days. A child who has 
been entrusted with the care of a younger 
brother or sister, or charged with any other 
definite responsibility, should be heartily 
commended for faithfulness, or made to feel 
deep chagrin at the lack of it. Similar treat- 
ment should be accorded stamina or weakness 
infobeying^commands. So, too, evidences of 
loyalty, to jriends, home, country, or to God, 
should Jbe earnestly praised, and tendencies 
in^the opposite direction should be con- 
demned with equal zeal. It would indeed be 
difficult to over-estimate the influence which 
men and women, distinguished for their 
fidelity in both sacred and profane history, 
have in developing these ideals in children. 
Stories and poems with reference to these 
splendid characters should be read and 
repeated until they become such a vivid part 
of a child's knowledge that the mere mention 
of the person or incident will be a stimulus 
to the ideal sought. Never before have 
authors and publishers made so much inter- 
esting material of this kind readily available. 
Wise indeed are the parents who have a 
60 



HABITS OF CHARACTER 



liberal supply of these attractive volumes to 
aid in developing the highest and best 
character ideals. Such books should be read 
to children as soon as they begin to manifest 
interest in them. By so doing, parents lay 
a foundation not only for character ideals 
but likewise for a wide vocabulary and a love 
of good literature. 

No chapter on Habits of Character would 
be complete without some suggestions as to 
inculcating reverence for God and His 
commands in youthful minds. Fortunate 
indeed are the adults whose childhood 
recollections comprise the nightly repeating 
of " Now I Lay Me," with Mother kneeling 
devoutly by the cribside, the daily meals 
preceded by a simple but reverential giving 
of thanks, and the day's work begun or 
closed with a few words of worshipful prayer. 
If in addition to this blessed heritage, there 
also linger recollections of having, in occa- 
sional times of stress, been awed into wonder- 
ing retreat by accidentally discovering 
mother or father in secret prayer, few con- 
ditions in later life are likely to banish belief 
in God and His Word from the mind. 

Yet these simple and impressive practices, 
alone, are not enough. Parents should con- 
sider it a sacred obligation to see that chil- 
dren gain a thorough knowledge of the tenets 
and traditions of their religious faith. 
61 



A PARENT'S JOB 



" But we send them to church and Sunday 
School. Is not that a sufficient discharge of 
our obligations?" parents might ask. 

Certainly not, because in the usual Sunday 
School not more than a half hour a week, on 
the average, is devoted to Bible Study. 
Besides, above the Junior Grades, as a general 
thing, and in many schools in all grades 
higher than the Primary, the great majority 
of pupils make no preparation. Parents do 
assist or supervise the little children, but 
many seem to think their responsibility ends 
at that point. 

With the falling-off in interest at home, 
children proceed to lose their lesson books 
or to forget to bring them. Having little or 
no familiarity with the points the teacher 
tries to present, and a most decided inclina- 
tion for fun at any time, a large majority of 
the class visit and fool away the precious 
hour while the teacher flounders from one 
topic to another in a vain endeavor to gain 
attention. 

" But our children at least derive much 
benefit from the songs and prayer and 
scripture readings, and likewise from such 
close association with Christian teachers," 
some parents may say. 

On the whole these influences are good; 
but easily satisfied fathers and mothers 
should visit Sunday School occasionally and 
62 



HABITS OF CHARACTER 



observe whether their children in the Inter- 
mediate and Senior Grades are taking part 
in the songs and giving reverential attention 
during the prayers and scripture readings. 
" Well, if such a status is at all widely preva- 
lent, there is certainly something radically 
wrong with Sunday-School officials," parents 
may further assert. 

Sunday-School teachers and officials are 
the salt of the earth; and if, in the Heavenly 
Kingdom, crowns are awarded to unselfish, 
devoted workers from this earthly sphere, 
these zealous disciples should be among those 
who receive the greatest rewards. Without 
money and without price, and with no means 
of enforcing honest effort or reverential 
attention, they are spending several hours of 
valuable time each week in an endeavor to 
give your children religious instruction, which 
you, Mr. and Mrs. Parent, by thoughtlessness 
or indifference, may be rendering practically 
fruitless. It goes without saying that the 
very least fathers and mothers should do is 
to see that their children do not mislay Sun- 
day-School lesson books, and that they arrive 
at church on time with a lesson well pre- 
pared. 

With improved methods of administration 
and teaching in Sunday Schools, such co- 
operation at home will count for much; but 
the obligation of parents for the religious 
63 



A PARENT'S JOB 



education of their children is not fully satis- 
fied even by maintaining a reverential home 
atmosphere and keeping the young folk in 
the right attitude toward the Sunday-School 
work. The wonderful old stories of the Bible 
must be told and re-told, read and re-read, 
until each child knows them by heart. In 
all literature there are no tales more interest- 
ing for children, or more efficacious in estab- 
lishing right ideals of conduct and reverence 
for God and His commands. 

Many excellent books have been prepared 
to assist parents in this vital work. Hurl- 
but's " Story of the Bible," Williams' " New 
Line upon Line " and " New Peep of Day " 
are among the very best of these to read to 
little ones; Sangster's " Story of the Bible," 
because of its simple language and short 
sentences, is especially good for young folk 
to read themselves. In addition to this, if 
the Sunday School one's children attend 
does not require the memorizing of the 
Commandments, the Beatitudes, and such 
helpful and inspiring lines as the 1st, 19th, 
23d, 100th, 103d Psalms, and similar passages 
from both the Old and the New Testament, 
parents should see to it that this blessed 
heritage becomes imbedded in the minds 
and hearts of their children. The best of the 
sacred hymns, so full of beauty and inspira- 
tion, should be sung so frequently in the 
64 



HABITS OF CHARACTER 



family circle that their words, too, become 
a part of each child's spiritual equipment. 
The fact that childhood is the time when 
memorizing is the easiest, and that anything 
learned in that period is far more readily 
recalled in later years than that which is 
committed to memory in adult life, gives 
added force to this obligation. 

" How can time be found for so much? " 
No less an authority than the Bishop 
of Durham, in his preface to the " Peep of 
Day" series, says: — "It is common to 
defer religious instruction until the child can 
read in the Testament. One quarter of an 
hour daily devoted to instruction by word 
of mouth would prepare the child for com- 
prehending the meaning of the Testament 
when able to read." 

While it would be practically impossible 
in most churches to have a repetition of the 
Sunday session of the Bible School on a 
week day, the Sabbath period for actual 
scripture study might be readily lengthened 
by cutting out many more or less extraneous 
matters that in many schools are allowed to 
consume valuable time. It would also be 
quite possible to have an hour's session at 
four o'clock on Wednesday or Thursday 
afternoon for concert and individual drill 
in recitation of scripture and songs, con- 
ducted by the minister or his assistant 
65 



A PARENT'S JOB 



with whatever other helpers might be avail- 
able. 

Much intelligent thought is now being 
given to the importance of religious educa- 
tion of children, and to employing more time 
and better directed effort in such instruction. 
However, no matter what improvements 
are made or what advantages are afforded, 
it must always remain the job of parents to 
keep in close touch with what the Sunday 
School is trying to do for their children, and 
to co-operate with and supplement these 
efforts. 

While a firm belief in prayer is likely to 
be established by the training already sug- 
gested, the attention of children should be 
called to the fact that not only Christ and 
his disciples and other famous personages of 
the Bible prayed to God for help and strength, 
but also that George Washington, Abraham 
Lincoln, and others of the world's greatest 
secular leaders were often seen on their 
knees in secret prayer. The fact that such 
men attributed the success of their efforts 
largely to help received from prayer is sure 
to impress children. 

Success in all of the lines of training herein 
suggested depends largely upon having a 
spirit of mutual love and affection in the 
home. Tender consideration and thoughtful- 
ness for the practical welfare and happiness 
66 



HABITS OF CHARACTER 



of their children should be the rule in every 
family, nor should outward signs, indicative 
of this status, be wanting. There should be 
the good-night and the good-bye kiss. Mani- 
festations of affection should not be repelled; 
and if such impulses are apparently not 
natural to a child's disposition, they should 
be wooed by parents with tact and per- 
sistence, for developing the sweeter side of 
children's nature may save much difficulty 
and unhappiness in later years. Parents 
should, as a rule, not be autocratic either in 
commanding or chastising. Indeed, quiet 
tones of voice and courteous manner are 
always valuable assets both at home and in 
school. As has been suggested in a pre- 
ceding paragraph, stern rebuke and even 
strenuous punishment need sometimes to be 
given swiftly and without preliminary parley; 
but within a reasonable time such incidents 
should be talked over and the right under- 
standing reached. 

Finally, in all character training, patience, 
forbearance and persistent effort must be 
the watchwords. Some children may have 
such strong tendencies toward a trait parents 
fondly desire them to possess that it seems 
inborn; while the inclinations of others in 
the opposite direction will be so marked as 
to cause astonishment that one's offspring 
could possibly possess them. As the Shep- 
67 



A PARENT'S JOB 



herd of old followed the lost sheep into the 
stormy wilds, so parents must earnestly and 
tenderly devote their best efforts to estab- 
lishing the desired traits of character in such 
children. Chance and luck will avail little. 
Persistent, tactful, prayerful endeavor will 
often accomplish the apparently impossible. 



68 



CHAPTER VI 

Health Habits that are Vital to 
Efficient Living 

HOME and school are probably most 
neglectful in their lack of concerted 
effort to establish good health habits 
in children. 

How can this be true, when in many 
states the study of Physiology and Hygiene 
is compulsory in elementary schools? The 
subject is taught, either incidentally or 
intensively, from the primary grades through 
the Grammar School course, and facts about 
the body are so well learned that few children 
of to-day would ask, as did an investigating 
youth some years ago, " Mamma, I know 
where my liver is, but tell me, please, where 
is my bacon? " 

Nevertheless, of what practical value is a 
child's acquaintance with respiration and 
pure air, if he is developing the habit of high 
chest breathing, or is sleeping at night with 
closed windows? What does it profit little 
folk to know all parts of the digestive canal 
and the function of each, if at breakfast 
they continue to wash down half masti- 
cated doughnuts and pancakes with copious 
69 



A PARENT'S JOB 



draughts of coffee ? Of what practical benefit 
is it to a child to learn that he needs ten 
hours of sleep daily, when parents permit a 
more or less unlimited indulgence in moving- 
picture shows and kindred evening attrac- 
tions, with their reeking air, late hours, and 
accompanying eye strain ? 

A careful observer in almost any ele- 
mentary school will notice pale, nervous 
children among the pupils who recite most 
fluently in the Physiology recitations; and, 
regrettable to say, he will also observe that 
the knowledge gained from the study has 
very little effect in improving their health. 
That physical improvement is their most 
vital need and can be won by personally 
applying the truths learned, makes slight 
impression. What such pupils are^ seems to 
be accepted as a matter of course; what they 
are to become physically, is apparently a 
matter of little or no concern. Sufficient 
unto the day is the evil or good thereof. 

Any adult now practicing sensible habits 
in his use of food, air, water, exercise, and 
rest, because failing health compelled a 
change in regime, is suprised that his doctor 
advises very little which he himself did not 
learn while studying Physiology at school. 
Why did not the information inspire a per- 
sonal application at that time? Either 
because the health and spirits normally 
70 



HEALTH HABITS 



attending youth, regardless of habits, made 
any changes seem unnecessary, or more 
likely the opposite habits were too well 
established before beginning the study to be 
broken without the exercise of more will 
power than children possess. 

The wise course is to have the habits first 
formed the correct ones, and this must 
necessarily be the job of parents, since many 
that are vital to efficient living are established 
before children attend school. Usually the 
part of the teacher will be to co-operate in 
forming some habit which parents tell her 
they have not yet fully succeeded in estab- 
lishing. Nevertheless, if teachers notice in 
school that children have not formed any 
of the essential habits mentioned, they should 
communicate with parents, and earnestly 
co-operate in bringing about the desired 
changes. 

The first obligation of parents in the matter 
of health habits is to see that their babies 
are supplied with plenty of air, as near like 
out-of-door atmosphere as is feasible; and 
to be watchful that, as their little ones grow 
older, they become so fond of this God- 
given blessing and so desirous of the benefits 
which result from breathing it, that they 
will not be content to remain long in any 
ill-ventilated room. When little folk are old 
enough to understand the following semi- 
71 



A PARENT'S JOB 



humorous lines by Howard Carlton Tripp, 
it will be profitable to have them committed 
to memory and occasionally repeated: 

EATING AIR 

" Once I met a lady, handsome, plump, and fair; 
Said I, ' What's the reason? ' Said she, ' Eating air! ' 
Said I, ' Sure you're jesting! ' Said she, ' Not a bit! 
If you're sick and gloomy, take a dose of it! 

" 'Throw your shoulders upward. Get out in the sun; 
Concentrate your wishes with your mind — 'tis 

done! 
Wake the solar plexus, health will come complete; 
Air is splendid eating — eat and eat and eat! 

" 'You can't be a glutton on such splendid fare; 
Life is for the having, just keep eating air! 
And your mind will broaden to all pleasures sweet; 
Successes grand await you, if you eat and eat. 

" 'Climate makes strong people — sunshine keeps 
them free; 
Upward throw your shoulders; eat some air with me; 
Cast drugs to the canines, throw pills to the bats — 
Air is for the lean ones; air is for the fats. 

" 'Air is for the gloomy, bilious, grave, and sad; 
Air is for the good ones, air is for the bad; 
Air is for the lowly, women, children, men; 
When you are real hungry, pass your plate again! 

" 'Vitalize your body freely without price! 
Eating air is jolly, eating air is nice; 
And the world about you will appear so sweet 
If you keep on feasting, if you eat and eat! ' ' 

72 



HEALTH HABITS 



The breathing habit must also be given 
very careful attention. Finger-sucking must 
be absolutely prevented, since it is a fre- 
quent cause of irregular teeth and may be a 
contributing cause to mouth breathing and 
the various troubles accompanying it. By 
making use of one of the various devices 
that are used to prevent finger-sucking, the 
formation of the habit may be prevented and 
thus much future illness and expense for 
operations and special treatment will be 
avoided. Using pacifiers is of course just as 
harmful as finger-sucking, and should not be 
allowed. If a child has a tendency to breathe 
through the mouth, parents should watch 
and work persistently until both nostrils are 
freely used. Often this will require extreme 
patience and perseverance, for even after 
adenoids, enlarged tonsils, or other obstruc- 
tions of the breathing organs have been re- 
moved, the mouth-breathing habit will con- 
tinue. Bandaging the mouth closed during 
sleeping hours and frequent urging to keep 
it shut at other times will, if patiently con- 
tinued, effect the desired habit. 

Parents not only should satisfy themselves 
that their children are taking air into the 
lungs through the nostrils, but they should 
also be equally sure that their little ones are 
forming the habit of rhythmic deep breath- 
ing. The primary essentials of this habit 
73 



A PARENT'S JOB 



are correct sitting and standing position 
(namely, with shoulders back, chest up, and 
abdomen inclined inward), and feeling the 
alternate expansion and contraction of the 
diaphragm upon the abdominal organs as one 
breathes. Children should know these facts 
and their importance before commencing 
school, — know them as well as their prayers. 
In fact, as mothers lead their little ones to 
the love of God and truth through the bed- 
time prayer and story, they should, with 
equal zeal and earnestness, impress the idea 
that future beauty, joy, health, and useful- 
ness will largely depend upon forming correct 
habits of position and breathing. 

A returned missionary has told of a tribe 
in central Asia that makes rhythmic deep 
breathing a vital part of its religious teaching. 
What a priceless blessing it would be to all 
children, if parents should consider that 
training their offspring to form this essential 
habit of respiration is a sacred duty which 
they dare not neglect! 

In an article in the New York Medical 
Journal, Dr. John Pryor, formerly Superin- 
tendent of the New York State Hospital for 
Incipient Tuberculosis, says: — 

" Very frequently breathing becomes a 
partial or incomplete function after child- 
hood. Enough air is admitted to the lungs 
to support life in a sedentary way, but 
74 



HEALTH HABITS 



thorough ventilation becomes a rare experi- 
ence. . . . Many women have never learned 
how to breathe, and the man who has given 
up vigorous exercise seldom fills his lungs to 
their full capacity. . . . The average chest 
expansion of all patients when they entered 
the New York State Hospital for Incipient 
Tuberculosis was two inches and the breath- 
ing capacity was almost invariably below 
the standard required. The almost universal 
testimony of the patients was that they had 
never been taught to breathe." 

Surely there are few ways in which parents 
can be of greater service to their children 
than to equip them with breathing habits 
that will fortify against disease. What a 
boon they can bestow upon their much loved 
little ones by saving them from the fate of 
the countless thousands who pass the more 
or less inefficient, listless lives necessarily 
resulting from poor health or part health! 
How splendid it is for fathers and mothers to 
see their children start out from the home in 
proud possession of the unlimited capacity 
for work and enjoyment that usually attends 
deep breathing and rugged health, together 
with the more dignified, commanding appear- 
ance that accompanies correct position! 

But suppose children have already formed 
the habit of sliding down in the seat they are 
occupying, of standing with the abdomen 
75 



A PARENT'S JOB 



inclined outward and the chest inward, or of 
sitting or standing in a stooping position, how 
can parents help? 

By demonstrating the essentials of the 
correct breathing habit until they are 
thoroughly understood, and then inspir- 
ing young folk deeply with the idea that 
good looks, good times, good health, and 
the highest usefulness depend upon correct 
posture and deep breathing, the attain- 
ment of both habits may be made one 
of their dearest ambitions. Occasional warn- 
ings, such as " Straighten up! " or " You're 
getting round-shouldered!" will count for 
little. The change is one that young folk 
must necessarily bring about in themselves. 
With a full understanding of the essentials 
to be gained and a reasonable appreciation 
of the benefits accompanying their attain- 
ment, the incorrect habits are likely to be 
broken, if parents and teachers persevere in 
emphasizing the inestimable value of deep 
breathing. 

Home training in sensible habits with 
reference to food and eating is likewise of 
great value. Few things are of greater prac- 
tical use to mothers than knowledge of the 
best food for infants from birth until they 
are old enough to eat what is furnished the 
rest of the family, — useful both for its good 
effects upon the baby's health and also for 
76 



HEALTH HABITS 



the substantial decrease it may cause in the 
labor, expense, and worry that attend the 
rearing of children. This information should 
be learned by all girls before leaving school. 
If it has not been, it can be gained from one 
of the good books prepared on the subject, 
or from the family physician. 

Along with the idea that pure, bracing 
air is the only kind one should be content to 
breathe, there should be inculcated the 
almost equally essential truth that simple, 
wholesome foods, such as milk, eggs, meat, 
vegetables, and fruit should constitute the 
greater part of one's diet, and that fried 
foods, rich desserts, and candy should be 
eaten only in small quantities. 

Of course the primary duty of parents is 
to furnish only the most beneficial diet; but 
that, in itself, is not enough. So much 
emphasis should be placed upon the fact 
that simple, nutritious foods make the body 
healthy, strong, and beautiful that young 
folk will prefer that kind when away from 
home and later in life. It is natural for 
children to want to be as strong, agile, 
healthy, and beautiful as possible. Impress 
them early enough with the truth that plain, 
nutritious foods aid in gaining these charac- 
teristics and that the opposite kind will 
hinder their attainment, and they will be as 
loath to gorge themselves with pancakes and 
77 



A PARENT'S JOB 



syrup, candy and rich desserts as they would 
be to tie a weight on their legs to hinder 
activity. A full appreciation of the same 
truth will likewise cause the altogether too 
common breakfast of coffee or tea and bread 
to be shunned by young folk as carefully as 
would be some drug which is known to lessen 
physical and mental alertness. 

Stories of Greek ideals of physical develop- 
ment and beauty, and especially of the bene- 
fits of simple living to the Spartans, may be 
used to advantage with young folk. How 
Daniel and his three companions on a diet 
of pulse and water grew both fairer and wiser 
than the Chaldean youths who partook of 
King Nebuchednezzar's meat and wine, is 
another example likely to inspire emulation 
in children. 

What rhythmic, deep breathing is to 
respiration, the habit of thorough mastication 
is to digestion. This practice should be 
started when children begin to eat solid 
food, and its vital benefits should be em- 
phasized daily until the habit is acquired. 
Soaking food in any liquid, or washing down 
half-chewed food with a swallow of some 
drink, should both be quickly stopped, since 
these practices prevent thorough mastica- 
tion. 

The following precepts with reference to 
foods and eating should be made almost as 
78 



HEALTH HABITS 



vivid a part of every child's thought and life 
as the Ten Commandments: — 

Simple, plain foods help to make the body 
strong, healthy, and beautiful, while candy 
and rich desserts are likely to have the oppo- 
site effect unless eaten in small amounts. 

Fried foods are usually difficult to digest, 
and should be avoided when possible. 

Coffee, tea, and intoxicating drinks tend 
to injure children and may do them great 
harm. Water, milk, and cocoa are the most 
healthful drinks. 

A little seasoning in foods is golden; much 
seasoning is leaden. 

Eating too much food because it pleases 
the taste hastens the day when nothing will 
taste good. 

Additional minutes of mastication bring 
additional years of good health. 

Hurrying through meals to get out to play 
hastens the day when one will not care to 
play. 

An ounce of rest to the digestive organs is 
worth pounds of drugs and patent medicines. 

Thorough evacuation of the bowels at a 
regular hour daily is also one of the essential 
habits to be formed in childhood. From 
infancy the vital importance of this function 
should be so emphasized at home that chil- 
dren will instinctively regard the passing of 
a day without such a result as a reason for 
79 



A PARENT'S JOB 



far greater concern than missing one of the 
regular meals. With such a status in vogue, 
many bothersome children's illnesses, result- 
ing from incomplete evacuation, will be 
avoided, and chronic constipation, the bane 
of so many adults, will be far less common 
than it is to-day. 

Good teeth are essential to perfect diges- 
tion, and to be of the greatest possible 
service, they must be both regular and 
sound. Lack of exercise, due to eating 
too largely of soft foods, the finger-sucking 
habit, continuous mouth breathing, constant 
sucking in of the lower lips, the frequent use 
of a pacifier, and the premature removal of 
some of the temporary set are among the 
chief causes of irregular teeth. Conscien- 
tious, patient mothers, who understand the 
additional use and beauty of regular teeth, 
will keep their babies from all of these 
injurious practices. The science of making 
irregular teeth more regular is called ortho- 
dontia. A specialist in this line of dentistry 
can greatly improve the most irregular sets. 
The work requires many short visits, extended 
over a comparatively long period of time, 
and is expensive. However, any parents who 
can possibly pay for the work should have it 
done, since there are few ways in which one 
can do more to add to the health and beauty 
of a child. 

80 



HEALTH HABITS 



Thorough cleaning of the teeth just before 
retiring at night is another habit that should 
be formed early in life. In teaching children 
how to do this, they should be made to 
understand that removing all food from be- 
tween the teeth and from the mouth is the 
chief aim, since decaying particles in the 
mouth are the primary cause of decaying 
teeth. On this account the tooth-brush 
should be moved up and down instead of 
crosswise. For a similar reason, dental floss 
is even more serviceable in cleaning teeth 
than a brush, since by forcing it between the 
teeth, food particles are either pushed out, 
or so loosened that they can be easily rinsed 
out with water. If a person can afford to 
have but one of the two, dental floss is pref- 
erable to a tooth-brush; but after using 
the floss, the mouth should be thoroughly 
rinsed with water, and the teeth then polished 
with a moist cloth. Children should also 
learn that tooth-powder or paste is valuable 
for polishing qualities and also for leaving 
in the mouth an alkaline reaction which 
helps to neutralize any acid that may be 
formed. 

Many parents seem to think that the first 
or temporary teeth need no special care. 
This is a mistake that has caused much 
irreparable damage. Teeth should be cleaned 
daily after they appear in the mouth, and 
81 



A PARENT'S JOB 



from the time a child is four or five years old 
they should be examined by a dentist at 
least once in six months, so that any tendency 
to malformation or decay may be discovered 
and corrected. At first thought, this may 
seem an unnecessary expense; but it is 
undoubtedly less costly and uncomfortable 
in the end than to wait until an aching tooth 
compels such visits, since if no work is 
needed, the charge is moderate, and the 
smaller the cavity a tooth contains, the less 
the pain attending the filling. 

Children should be taught that crusts, 
toast, and similar foods give teeth beneficial 
exercise, and that candy and sweets are likely 
to hasten decay. They should likewise learn 
to avoid such injurious practices as picking 
the teeth with a pin or other pointed metal, 
cracking nuts or similar hard substances 
with the teeth, biting thread or string, 
immediately following hot foods or drinks 
with cold or cold with hot, or taking any 
medicine containing acid or iron except 
through a tube, since all of these practices 
may destroy the enamel of teeth and open 
the way for decay. So impressed should 
young folk be with the possible danger of 
such thoughtless habits that they will be as 
careful to avoid doing them as they would 
to dodge a blow that might knock out or 
break a tooth. All who take pride in having 
82 



HEALTH HABITS 



beautiful teeth will also keep from chewing 
or smoking tobacco, since either habit causes 
discoloration. 

It is important for children to form correct 
habits in their use of water, as well as of food 
and air. This useful fluid composes about 
two-thirds of the entire body, and is con- 
stantly leaving the tissues in perspiration 
through the pores of the skin, watery vapor 
in the air breathed out from the lungs, and 
in the urine excreted by the kidneys. Chil- 
dren should know that drinking freely of 
water is beneficial both in supplying the tissues 
with needed material and in stimulating the 
pores and kidneys to greater action; that 
at least two quarts of water should be drunk 
daily, and that a larger quantity is even 
better. 

Many people drink little or no water 
excepting what is in their coffee and tea at 
meals. By and by, when afflicted with some 
serious disease, they are surprised to learn 
from their physician that if they had only 
been in the habit of drinking more freely of 
pure water, their pores and kidneys would 
have kept more healthful, and the disease 
would very likely not have started. Besides 
supplying the tissues and stimulating the 
pores and kidneys, drinking freely of water 
is likewise an aid to digestion. The practice 
of drinking one or two glasses of cool water 
83 



A PARENT'S JOB 



a half-hour or more before meals, and es- 
pecially before breakfast, is one of the most 
beneficial habits a mother can teach a child, 
since it cleanses and stimulates the digestive 
organs, and helps to keep the bowels free 
from constipation. 

Children should also learn that perspira- 
tion contains waste materials from the body 
as well as water, and that while the latter 
evaporates, the waste remains on the skin, 
and together with the secretion from the oil 
glands and the tiny scales shed by the skin, 
will, if not removed, obstruct and interfere 
with the work of the perspiratory glands. A 
daily tepid or cold bath and a warm or hot 
bath at least once a week will keep the skin 
clean and the pores active. Children who 
form this custom in childhood are likely to 
continue it a lifetime, with much personal 
benefit and satisfaction. A simple but 
necessary habit which should also be estab- 
lished is that of cleaning and filing the nails 
and pushing the skin back from them, both 
when bathing the body and while washing 
the hands and face. The little time this 
habit takes will be bountifully repaid by 
the evidence of good breeding which clean, 
neat-appearing nails afford. 

It may also be of much practical value to 
children to become acquainted with the 
simple water remedies and to be trained to 
84 



HEALTH HABITS 



make use of them. For example, drinking 
freely of warm water will often relieve a 
headache caused by indigestion; drinking 
hot water or hot lemonade, just before 
retiring, will frequently ward off a cold by 
starting a free flow of perspiration; soaking 
the feet in hot water just before going to bed 
is good for colds, headache, or sleeplessness; 
and a pint or more of warm water forced into 
the lower bowel by a fountain syringe will 
often prevent illness by causing a thorough 
discharge of waste materials. 

Children should also be taught to have 
reasonable concern as to the purity of their 
drinking water. They should know that 
water in wells is often made impure by drain- 
ing outhouses, stables, or cemeteries, and 
that sewage may make lake or river water 
unfit to drink. They should also be well 
acquainted with the fact that the only sure 
way to kill typhoid and other disease germs 
that may be in drinking water is to boil it 
twenty minutes, — not twenty minutes on 
the stove, but twenty minutes over the fire 
after boiling commences. The fact that ice 
may contain disease germs and that it is 
better to cool water by placing it in the ice- 
box rather than by putting ice in the water 
is also valuable for all to know. If children 
become fully impressed with the truth of 
these facts, they will be as particular not to 
85 



A PARENT'S JOB 



drink water which they do not know is from 
a pure source as they will not to eat food that 
there is reason to believe might be poisonous. 

Good sense in not allowing the bladder to 
remain overloaded is another habit that 
children should early acquire. When too 
much urine is allowed to collect there, poison- 
ous urea is not taken from the blood as it 
should be, and too great a strain is placed 
on the muscles of the bladder. Children 
should be taught the importance of tactfully 
finding an opportunity for relieving them- 
selves, under such circumstances. 

A fact which all mothers should know is 
that from babyhood the foreskin of a boy's 
penis should be pushed back, at least once a 
week, during the morning bath, so that all 
accumulated secretions and deposits may 
be washed off. When this is not done, the 
tightness of the foreskin and the accumu- 
lation underneath are likely to produce an 
irritation that causes the child to scratch the 
organ and possibly form the habit of mastur- 
bation. If a mother tactfully attends to 
this duty in the infancy and early childhood 
of her boy, when the lad is old enough to 
bathe himself, he will naturally continue 
that part of his bath. It hardly seems possi- 
ble that the faithful performance of this 
simple duty might have saved many boys 
from growing to be more or less nervous 
86 



HEALTH HABITS 



wrecks and even from becoming inmates 
of insane asylums; yet eminent authorities 
claim this to be a fact. 

The future efficiency and happiness of 
children may largely depend upon how much 
and how well they can use their eyes. What 
can parents do to help insure their precious 
little ones the blessings of good sight? The 
first responsibility in this respect is that in 
case there is any discharge from an infant's 
eyes shortly after birth, it should be most 
carefully attended to by a physician or a 
nurse. It is estimated that one-tenth of all 
blindness is due to lack of attention when the 
eyes of babies are thus affected. However, 
the right solution applied at the right time 
will stop the discharge and save the eyes. 

Especial pains should be taken to shade a 
baby's eyes from the sun or other bright 
light. If children are weak and sickly at the 
usual age for beginning school, they should 
not be allowed to attend until their health is 
much improved, for the eyes are likely to be 
too weak for the additional burden which 
even the Kindergarten or First Grade will 
impose. 

If, after children have begun to use books, 
parents notice a tendency to hold the printed 
page too near or too far from the eyes, an 
oculist should be consulted without delay. 
This duty is often neglected because it is 
87 



A PARENT'S JOB 



bothersome or expensive, or for the reason 
that parents do not like to see young chil- 
dren wearing glasses. The greater bother, 
expense, loss of efficiency and beauty that 
are likely to come later on, if glasses are 
not purchased when necessary, will usually 
make such neglect very costly in the end. 

Parents may also help their children to 
cultivate and preserve good sight by teach- 
ing them to know and apply the following 
rules : — 

Always have plenty of light for sewing, 
reading, and other close work. 

Have the light come from behind and over 
the left shoulder when doing close work. 

Always sit erect and hold the head up 
when reading or sewing. 

Never do close work facing the light. 

Do not read or sew by twilight or any 
other changing light. 

Do not look steadily at the sun or any other 
bright light. 

Read only books and papers that have 
good print, with sufficient space between 
the words and between the lines. 

Hold any book or paper you are reading 
up toward the level of the eye, since the 
effort for the muscles is much easier than 
when the printed page lies flat on a desk or 
table. 

Do not read while lying down. 



HEALTH HABITS 



Do not rub the eyes with your hands; 
disease germs may be rubbed in. 

Do not wipe your face or eyes with the 
same towel other people have used. 

Resting the eyes from close work for a few 
days will often make them strong again; 
rest from close work by artificial light will 
frequently have a similarly good effect. 

Impaired hearing unfits one for many 
useful occupations; it also limits a person's 
capacity to learn and to enjoy. For these 
reasons parents should train their children 
to keep this useful sense at its best. 

Children should be made to realize how 
great a calamity the impairment of hearing 
is, and that to help ward off such a mis- 
fortune they should practice the following 
rules : — 

Never put pencils or other pointed articles 
in the ear. 

Do not try to remove an insect, button, 
or any small foreign body from the ear 
with a wire or anything pointed. If it 
does not fall out when the ear is inclined 
downward and the head shaken, go to a 
doctor. 

Do not try to swab or dig out ear-wax. 
Careful bathing each day will keep the ear 
passage free from such accumulations. If 
enough has formed to block the passage, 
consult a physician. 

89 



A PARENT'S JOB 



Do not remain near cannon or giant fire- 
crackers that are about to explode. 

Avoid a blow on the ear, and do not strike 
anyone else there. 

Do not snuff any liquid violently up the 
nose. 

While in swimming, do not jump from any 
high place without holding the nose. 

Never take frequent or large doses of 
quinine. 

Do not work amidst the loud clatter of 
machinery without wearing ear-protectors. 

Breathe through the nose and keep as free 
as possible from colds. 

If you do not seem to hear as well as other 
children, have a doctor test both ears. 

If you have roaring or other unusual 
sounds in the ears, or if you have continued 
ear-ache or discharge of pus from the ears, 
consult a specialist without delay. 

Learning and applying these few simple 
rules would have saved many deaf people 
much handicap and unhappiness. What a 
privilege it is for parents to forearm their 
children against such misfortunes, and how 
small is the effort required, compared with 
the possible benefits to be gained ! 

The value of vigorous out-of-door exercise 

in keeping folk strong, healthy, active, and 

graceful should be one of the best learned 

parts of every family's creed. Some children 

90 



HEALTH HABITS 



are too weak to play well. Therefore they 
do not like outdoor games, and even find them 
unsafe. Others are so fond of various inside 
occupations that they play very little in the 
open air. After leaving school, many adults 
give up play and exercise; in a few years any 
unusual physical exertion makes their muscles 
lame, and even a short run gets them out of 
breath. 

Children who do not like to play out of 
doors should be made to understand how 
much their health, happiness, and efficiency 
depend upon taking part in such pastimes; 
they should also be urged to enter into 
these sports until such encouragement is 
unnecessary. 

Parents should encourage their children 
to become so interested in tennis, golf, 
skating, sliding and other open-air games 
that they will engage in them, whenever 
opportunity permits, as long as they live. 
The great obstacle is that adults often can 
not readily find either time or oppor- 
tunity for such sport. Walking, however, 
is a pastime always available. Both children 
and adults should cultivate a liking for this 
beneficial exercise, and prefer to walk any 
reasonable distance time will permit, to 
riding in a street car or in an automobile. 
Rapid walking stimulates the circulation 
and brings many muscles into play, thus 
91 



A PARENT'S JOB 



keeping them hard and fit for use. There is 
great satisfaction in having the muscles 
vigorous instead of soft and flabby. Children 
will fully appreciate this fact, if parents 
emphasize and exemplify it. The best 
feature of all is that delicate, sickly children 
who become imbued with the right ideal 
and persevere in attaining it, can grow to be 
strong and vigorous. Walter Scott, Theodore 
Roosevelt, and other well-known examples 
of this type of child can be made inspiring 
incentives to little folk, if parents will make 
use of the interesting stories of their lives. 

In recent years, much has been said and 
written about nervous, sickly children. 
Parents and doctors often blame the schools 
for this condition, declaring that there are 
too many studies and that too much home 
work is required. While the curriculum is 
overcrowded, the cause for the nervousness 
and ill health of many children may be found 
in the home and not in school. It may be 
due to lack of nutritious food or to incorrect 
eating habits. Frequently too much candy 
is the cause. Often there is not enough out- 
door play, or perhaps the sleeping room is 
kept too warm, or is not well supplied with 
pure air. Some malformation of the eye, 
which a skilful oculist might readily correct 
with glasses, may be the primary difficulty. 

Most generally, however, the chief causes 
92 



HEALTH HABITS 



are lack of regular sleep and too much excite- 
ment. Instead of going to bed at nine o'clock 
or before, the moving-picture show, dancing 
school, or some other evening attraction 
makes the retiring hour very much later. 
Amusement and social pleasures have the 
right of way in some families, while the edu- 
cation and healthful development of the 
children hold a more or less secondary place. 
The responsibility for this regrettable con- 
dition rests with parents alone, and can not 
be rightfully blamed on any other source. 
While times and customs may have changed, 
" Early to bed and early to rise " is just as 
wise a motto as it ever has been; and home 
with its simple duties, wholesome games, and 
guiding parental influences is still the best 
place for children to spend their evenings. 
The more quickly parents generally realize 
these truths and apply them in bringing up 
their children, the better it will be for the 
coming generation. 

That until high school has been completed, 
young folk should not attend more than one 
evening entertainment or social affair a week, 
and that one invariably on Friday or Satur- 
day night, should be an inflexible law in 
every household. With this rule generally 
enforced, the number of nervous, sickly 
children will quickly decrease, and the home 
will again occupy that important place in 
93 



A PARENT'S JOB 



the training of the young which it is so well 
fitted to hold. 

Acquainting their children with correct 
ideas about the reproductive organs, their 
use and abuse, is one of the most important 
duties of parenthood, and yet one that is 
very frequently neglected. On this account 
there has been much discussion in recent 
years as to when and how sex hygiene should 
be taught in the public schools. Absolutely 
the best place for teaching this subject is the 
home; the ideal teachers of it are the parents, 
and the best time for beginning is between 
the ages of twelve and fourteen, though 
parents should always answer simply and 
truthfully any questions on this subject 
which their children at any age may ask them. 
Thus the right information, imparted in a 
tactful, earnest way, will fortify young 
folk for a pure sexual life, and make them 
regard the subject as sacred to home and 
the domestic circle. 

But there will always be some parents 
who will prove delinquent in this important 
duty. Should not the schools make up for 
their neglect? 

Emphatically yes! It should be some 
teacher's business to make sure that every 
child, after reaching a certain age, has this 
important information imparted to him or 
her, by the parents if possible; otherwise by 
94 



HEALTH HABITS 



some one especially well adapted to win the 
respect and confidence of the particular 
child. Persons with a rare combination of 
strength, simplicity, tact, and insight will be 
needed; but such will usually be found 
among the devoted teachers of a school, 
and, if not there, among the social or church 
acquaintances of the child. 

Perhaps the best way to begin the matter 
will be for the principal to mail a printed 
communication to parents saying that, in 
the judgment of the best authorities, the 
child is now of the right age to be made 
acquainted with essential facts of sex hygiene; 
that it is better for parents to attend to this 
important duty themselves, but, if they 
prefer to have the information given at 
school, they should mail a request for the 
child to be admitted to a talk by some one 
who is competent to handle the subject in 
the right way. The only instance in which 
this instruction should be given without the 
request of parents is in the case of children 
from homes of vice and ignorance from which 
no answer to a communication from the 
school on any subject would be likely to be 
received. 

Five conditions will be vital to the success 

of such an undertaking in elementary schools. 

The time should depend upon age, not 

grade. The principal's printed communica- 

95 



A PARENT'S JOB 



tion to parents should be courteous, com- 
plete, and in every way of a character to 
command confidence and respect. Instruc- 
tion should be given to individuals or to 
small groups. The information imparted 
should be in friendly, confidential conversa- 
tion, and not in formal teaching. If possible, 
parents should know and approve of the 
information that is given and tactfully sup- 
plement it at home. 

In both high school and college a different 
procedure may be followed. If the former is 
co-educational, it should have a class in 
Physiology and Hygiene for girls and another 
for boys in both the first and the last year 
of the course. It might also be remarked, 
by the way, that the separation of the sexes 
in the Physiology recitation would be ad- 
visable from the fourth grade in elementary 
schools, as many points under various topics 
might be dwelt upon more effectively if such 
were the case. The aim in high-school 
classes should not be to prepare for exami- 
nations, but to fit human beings for the 
highest and best living. To this end, live 
discussions and debates on many of the 
topics heretofore introduced in this chapter 
should be held. One of the chief features, 
however, should be frank talks, broader and 
more extended in the last year, on the laws 
governing sexual intercourse and the penalties 
96 



HEALTH HABITS 



of their violation; also on the responsibilities 
of parenthood, and important facts con- 
cerning the care of infants. Similar courses, 
possibly more scientific but equally practical, 
should be given at college, and at both 
institutions the subject should be made 
compulsory for all. 

With the suggested plan in operation, 
practically every child would be fortified with 
the essential knowledge, outlined above, 
before running the gauntlet of vice, since 
the compulsory education law forces all to 
attend school until they are fourteen years 
old. As a rule, the first information would 
come from those who are nearest and dearest, 
because the communication in regard to sex 
hygiene from the school principal would 
usually influence all but the most timid or 
careless parents to give the information 
themselves. The additional instruction in 
high school and college would not come as 
something squeamish or shocking, but as 
additional information on a sacredly practical 
subject. How much disappointment, un- 
happiness, shame, and sin might be pre- 
vented; how many ill-considered, uncon- 
genial, unhappy marriages might be avoided, 
if home and school were to co-operate practi- 
cally on this important subject. 

In the preceding paragraphs of this chap- 
ter, the author has suggested how parents 
97 



A PARENTS JOB 



may train their children in the vital health 
habits that will serve the best growth and 
development of the wonderful bodies God 
has given them. Impressing these facts on 
little folk will require untiring effort and un- 
limited patience on the part of parents; but 
the labor and anxiety saved through the 
improved health of the little ones, and the 
deep satisfaction experienced in their better 
development, will more than compensate for 
the effort thus expended. 



98 



CHAPTER VII 

Home Education Prior to Entering 
School 

THE first five years of a child's life are 
a period of tremendous activity and 
remarkable acquisition. From the 
helplessly prone babe through the rising, 
sitting, creeping, tottering, standing stages 
to perfect muscular control is a journey hard 
to calculate. From the time when " The 
only language is a cry," through the sweet 
lisping "urn," "ah," "baby," "no," 
" mamma," the laconic phrases, and Indian- 
like eliptical sentences to sufficient command 
of English for expressing one's thoughts, is a 
course wise makers of school curricula would 
indeed be puzzled to outline. From the 
limited horizon of food and Mother to an 
acquaintance with home and neighborhood 
environment and the qualities of much that 
is found therein, is a growth in concepts and 
ideas bordering on the marvelous. How 
busily little muscles and eyes and ears and 
fingers have worked to acquire so much I 
What discouraging obstacles they must have 
overcome 1 What impassable gulfs they have 
groped their way through! The most re- 
markable part of it all is that this vast 
99 



A PARENT'S JOB 



amount of information and accomplishment 
is gained by children largely through obser- 
vation and imitation, — a fact which parents 
and educators may well ponder, especially 
in connection with the home education of 
children prior to entering school. 

During this pre-school period, the chief 
aim of parents should be to develop correct 
habits of health and character along the lines 
suggested in preceding chapters. However, 
if out-of-door play and exercise are to become 
the rule of the home, tact and intelligence 
need to be exercised, for small children, on 
account of timidity, lonesomeness, or in- 
ability to amuse themselves, will improve 
every opportunity to come inside. Securing 
playmates, teaching simple games, and pro- 
viding suitable playthings are among the 
best ways for parents to help their little 
ones gain a lasting fondness for being out of 
doors. 

In families that can afford them, the most 
attractive inducements to exercise in the 
open air are things that go. By far the best 
of these is the Irish Mail, because it exercises 
both arms and legs, and besides increasing 
lung capacity, greatly strengthens the abdomi- 
nal muscles. The author knows a boy whose 
digestion up to the age of four was so delicate 
that often for several successive days he 
could retain no food. The end of these 
100 



HOME EDUCATION 



attacks was correlative with the purchase of 
an Irish Mail, which the youth had to be 
taught to ride, but in which he became so 
interested that for more than a year he 
operated it most vigorously whenever weather 
conditions permitted. His digestion and 
general health and strength all improved by 
leaps and bounds, while the amount spent 
for the vehicle was not one-third of any one 
of the numerous doctor's bills for the child 
in preceding years. Children from three to 
ten years of age like to use these machines. 
While they are usually bought for boys, girls 
also like them and should not be deprived of 
the great benefits resulting from their use. 

The Tricycle is next in value to the Irish 
Mail, and is even more attractive to many 
since it is more easily operated. The Roller- 
cart, which is probably most popular of all 
with boys, is not so good for development, 
since most of the work is done with one leg. 

In summer a well-located sand-pile will 
keep small children happy by the hour, and 
is a valuable adjunct to any yard. Sufficient 
sand for this purpose can be bought for 
about two dollars. It is a good plan to en- 
close the sand with strong boards, and to 
have a hinged cover for children to close 
when through with their play, so that the 
sand may be kept clean and fit for use. 

A swing, a trapeze or horizontal bar, and 
101 



A PARENT'S JOB 



a horizontal ladder may all be installed in a 
yard with little expense compared with the 
amusement and benefit they are likely to 
afford little folk. Soft-ball tossing, ring toss, 
and throwing bean-bags through a hole all 
train the hand and eye, and will interest 
children for brief periods. While croquet is 
not an athletic game, it is a source of much 
interest for children above the age of five, 
and is also good training for the hand and 
eye. 

But there are times when it is not feasible 
for children to be out of doors. How may 
their energies then be most profitably directed 
indoors? In answering this question, the 
chief aims to be kept in mind are the develop- 
ment of robust health and strength, educating 
the hand and eye, and the incidental gaining 
of knowledge and facility that will later help 
in school. 

For accomplishing the first two of these 
aims, a children's playroom is the best pos- 
sible adjunct to any home. Here the Spald- 
ing's Home Gymnasium, combining swinging 
rings, trapeze, stirrups, and swing, may be 
installed at an expense of six dollars. An 
adjustable horizontal bar may be placed in 
the doorway. Chest weights and a rowing 
machine may be added as children grow 
older, if space permits. 

In this room a work bench may also be 
102 



HOME EDUCATION 



placed with suitable tools for children, and 
plenty of pine wood, both of which should 
be used by the girls of the family as well as 
by the boys. A full equipment for cutting 
and pasting should also be among the things 
available for little folk in such a room. 
Illustrated papers and magazines supply 
abundant material for this purpose, and if 
parents give this occupation a little direction 
and personal interest, considerable facility, 
and even some artistic sense, may be readily 
cultivated. The Perry Pictures and others 
of a similar character, which may be pur- 
chased at small cost, are very helpful in 
developing the artistic side. Cutting and 
pasting are especially desirable for the Chil- 
dren's Playroom, since these occupations 
cause so much litter and stickiness that they 
can be allowed only to a limited extent in 
other parts of the house. If blunt scissors 
are used, even very young children can under- 
take this pastime without danger, and few 
occupations will give them more pleasure. 

However, children while in the house can 
not always be relegated to the playroom. 
What can parents supply that will direct the 
energies of active little ones along beneficial 
lines and at the same time interest and enter- 
tain them? 

One of the very best investments of this 
character is a small blackboard. The most 
103 



A PARENT'S JOB 



satisfactory kind for the purpose is of slate, 
about iy 2 by 2 ft., on an adjustable, easel- 
like frame. This costs about three dollars 
but quickly earns a place in the home. If 
the board is made with the letters and 
figures indelibly inserted along the top border, 
or if they are written there in chalk by some 
older member of the family, little children 
will try to make them. With a reasonable 
amount of coaching, they will gain surprising 
freedom in using the hand and arm in this 
way, thus developing facility and confidence 
which will later be of practical help at school. 

The sandpaper letter 's, so highly recom- 
mended by Madame Montessori may be 
prepared at home without great labor, and 
will be helpful in giving children the correct 
idea of form in learning to write. Cards and 
blocks, having colored pictures of animals and 
the letters of their names, please little folk 
and help them to become familiar with both 
the animals and the alphabet. Some families 
have found Spelling Frames containing mov- 
able colored letters very useful in familiariz- 
ing children with the alphabet and with the 
spelling of simple words. Some have also 
used Word Building Frames to advantage 
in interesting children in words and sentences, 
even before they know the alphabet. 

The author has heard drawing slates highly 
commended for home use, but his own chil- 
104 



HOME EDUCATION 



dren have taken little interest in them. They 
have, however, spent much time and taken 
great delight in coloring animals, small 
houses, and other objects of interest outlined 
in some of the cheap but excellent painting 
books prepared for children. For this work 
crayola is much better than water-color 
paints. 

Stringing colored cubes, cylinders, and 
spheres familiarizes children with form and 
color, besides training their eyes and hands, 
and is an occupation in which very young 
children delight. Building blocks, either 
colored or dissected, are an enjoyable source 
of entertainment and help in learning ideas 
of form. Sliced pictures and picture blocks 
will also interest and amuse for many suc- 
cessive minutes, as soon as little folk are old 
enough to learn to put them together. 

Some families find the abacus valuable 
help in giving a foundation for the idea of 
number. Others find Lotto and Farm-Yard 
Lotto interesting and profitable for their 
children. Dominoes, too, have furnished 
much stimulation in learning to count and 
in getting number ideas. 

Sewing-cards and cloth that have animals 
or other objects of interest in large enough 
outline to prevent eye strain interest chil- 
dren, and help in training both the hand and 
eye. Much of Madame Montessori's appa- 
105 



A PARENTS JOB 



ratus could doubtless be used to good ad- 
vantage in the home training of children, 
but unfortunately its cost is prohibitive 
except in very well-to-do families. However, 
the two most practical things for home use 
that it comprises, — namely the tying-frame 
and the sandpaper letters, can be made by 
any mother. Parents may also well profit 
by Madame Montessori's ideas as to teach- 
ing children very early in life to dress, 
undress, and attend to rubbers, for them- 
selves, and leading them to perform little 
duties about the home in an efficient manner. 
Such education benefits them by training 
the eye and hand and by cultivating self- 
reliance; it also lightens the duties of mother 
or nurse. 

The chief point to be remembered in con- 
nection with the pre-school use of all the 
articles and devices mentioned is that atten- 
tion to them must not be forced but attracted. 
Children should be led to work with them 
while they enjoy doing so, but should not 
be compelled to continue if they tire. Tact- 
fulness on the part of parents will help greatly 
in arousing interest. Friendly direction, 
sympathetic advice, enthusiastic commenda- 
tion and occasional rewards will prove 
effective helps in cultivating facility, neat- 
ness, and even skill. 

Given some or all of the materials suggested 
106 



HOME EDUCATION 



in this chapter for pre-school training, chil- 
dren with little or no assistance or direction 
will gain much that is of real value; with 
the sympathetic comradeship of grandmother, 
mother, or devoted nurse, the happiest kind 
of times will be enjoyed, and surprising 
facility will be gained along with the pleasure. 
The cultivation of good table habits is 
a problem that puzzles many parents. In a 
home of culture, children should uncon- 
sciously absorb such habits; but, strangely 
enough, this result does not always follow. 
The writer once knew a girl who in spite of 
persistent exhortations and reminders, per- 
sisted in not saying " please " and " thank 
you " at the table, or at other times when 
courtesy required. It happened that this 
particular child very much wanted a pair of 
ball-bearing roller skates to replace the ordi- 
nary variety which she had used for some 
time. The plan of rewarding her with a 
penny every time she remembered to say 
" please " and " thank you " was given a 
trial. It is needless to say that the ball- 
bearing roller skates were the child's property 
before many weeks elapsed, and that the 
desired habit was readily acquired. Of 
course financial reward is not, as a rule, the 
best aim to place before children; but there 
certainly are cases in which it is both effective 
and justifiable. 

107 



A PARENT'S JOB 



In shaming children out of mussing, fuss- 
ing, greediness, and other disagreeable habits, 
the Goop Books may be used to advantage, 
since the funny rhymes and amusing pictures 
appeal to the imagination of young folk. 
The Little Goop Directory will answer the 
same purpose very well for families that are 
limited in the amount of money they can 
spend for children's books. 

Children of five and above listen eagerly 
to the Rollo Books — and gain much practical 
benefit from the lessons Dr. Abbott has 
woven into them. 

Little Susy's Six Birthdays, Six Teachers, 
and Little Servants delight children under five, 
and are a wholesome influence in their 
character development. Of course there are 
hundreds of stories and books that may 
have a beneficial influence upon the unfolding 
minds of children. Those above mentioned 
are so inexpensive that they may be owned in 
the humblest home, and so full of interest to 
young children that they will bear frequent 
repetition. It takes but a brief time for 
little folk to discover that advantage may 
often be gained by lying; that the appetite 
may be gratified by stealing; or that per- 
sonal pleasure or comfort may be increased 
in various ways through selfishness or other 
misdeeds. The regrettable consequences of 
such lapses they are not able to note through 
108 



HOME EDUCATION 



personal observation. From the experiences 
of others, naturally and vividly presented 
in narrative, the folly of unworthy qualities 
of character is brought home in a way likely 
to leave at least an unconscious influence 
which will in a measure serve to counteract 
some of the opposite realities of daily life. 

A friend of the author uses a piece of 
cardboard about 12 by 9 inches in dimensions 
on which a record of the daily conduct of 
each of her children is kept. If, on the whole, 
the child has been good, a gold star is placed 
thereon at the close of the day. If, in the 
judgment of the assembled family at dinner, 
its conduct has not been satisfactory, a blot 
is used instead, the size of the black mark 
varying with the enormity of the misbe- 
havior. This unique plan works very well 
with children from the age of three to nine, 
and is worth a trial. 



109 



CHAPTER VIII 
The First Three Grades of School 

THERE is a hard tug at the heart- 
strings the first morning Mother leaves 
her precious darling at school. It 
seems the last act in the drama of baby 
days. Up to that moment maternal care 
and watchfulness have largely protected the 
little one from unpleasantness, discomfort, 
and harm. Now its health and happiness 
must, for several hours of the day, be en- 
trusted to another. How will he take to the 
new life? Will other children treat him well? 
Can he get to school and back safely? These 
and other anxious thoughts fill the mind of a 
loving parent, — especially if the child is the 
first of the family to start on the long school 
journey. 

Fortunately most children do take kindly 
to the new life. In fact it becomes so large 
a part of the thought of many that they play 
school much of their free time in the interval 
between sessions. With occasional excep- 
tions, they are well used by other children, 
and very few have any serious trouble on the 
way to and from school. Nevertheless the 
event is a critical one in the family history. 
110 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

Mother is right in so regarding it; nor should 
she leave school without first having a brief 
talk with the teacher. Any unusual condition 
of the child, such as defective vision or hear- 
ing, nervousness, or supersensitiveness, should 
be explained; and thereafter, the mother 
should pay an occasional brief visit to note 
what is being done in the class-room, and to 
find out how she may best co-operate at home 
to aid in the progress of the child. 

It is hard to understand why parents so 
often neglect this duty. Probably many do 
intend to make such visits, but numerous 
other matters crowd out the good intention. 
Some no doubt feel that education is the 
teacher's business and that their part is 
ended when the child is duly registered. Still 
others may think that such visits are annoy- 
ing to teachers, and hence, in the end, likely 
to do their children more harm than good. 

There may be teachers who resent such 
visits, but the more quickly a district is rid 
of them the better. Well-qualified instructors 
with the right professional spirit, — and the 
great majority are of that kind, — welcome the 
unobtrusive inspection of parents, well know- 
ing that the intelligent home co-operation 
which is likely to follow will make their own 
work more effective. A point also worthy of 
consideration is that in every business some 
workers are easily satisfied with their efforts, 
111 



A PARENT'S JOB 



if it is not evident that higher standards are 
expected. The public, and especially parents, 
are the employers of teachers, and by oc- 
casional tactful visitation they can do much 
to keep up high standards in any school. 

" But what is the use of visiting school or 
trying to help my child at home, either? I 
don't understand how teachers do things 
now. It is all so different from the way I 
learned," some mothers may say. 

Methods of teaching have changed, but 
fortunately they are neither so complex nor 
so difficult that parents can not readily 
understand them, and ably second the 
teacher's efforts. In the paragraphs that 
follow, a concise statement of the aims and 
methods of teachers in the most important 
studies of the various grades will be made, 
in the hope of clarifying this subject for 
parents, and helping them to become more 
efficient partners in the early education of 
their children. 

The Kindergarten is a very valuable year 
in school, but it covers no prescribed sub- 
ject matter in the Course of Study, and makes 
few specific exactions of the child. Through 
various games, songs, exercises, and occu- 
pations, it aims to accustom children to being 
with others, to develop their sense of music, 
rhythm, form and color, and to train them 
to do things for themselves. Therefore it 
112 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

will suffice to say in this connection that 
mothers who are following the Montessori 
method to the extent that they are teaching 
their little ones to do as much as possible for 
themselves, and to be helpful in the home in 
various ways, are well supplementing the 
Kindergarten instruction. 

Learning to read, write and spell, gaining 
facility in counting and in using the various 
number combinations, and practice in oral 
language and drawing largely make up the 
work of the first three grades. The present 
way of teaching reading to beginners is per- 
haps the least well understood by parents. 
Memorizing the alphabet, and getting ac- 
quainted with all new words by laborious 
spelling was so long the method of learning 
to read that even many parents, who were 
themselves instructed in accordance with a 
more modern plan, feel that if their children 
are being taught in any other way they can 
not possibly understand the process well 
enough to assist them at home. How a 
child can recognize a word without first 
having learned to spell it, is, they imagine, a 
puzzle too difficult for any but teachers to 
understand. 

A little thought will readily show the 

fallacy of this impression. To recognize a 

person or an animal, a child does not first 

have to memorize or even note the color of 

113 



A PARENT'S JOB 



the eyes, the shape of the nose, or the size 
of the ears. He gets the impression as a 
whole at first, and becomes acquainted with 
the details later, if for any reason his atten- 
tion is especially called to them. The same 
principle holds good in becoming acquainted 
with smaller objects or with words. The 
object or word as a whole is recognized 
without definitely knowing the individual 
parts. To express himself in writing later 
on, the letters must be known, and hence 
spelling is learned. 

It is not necessary here to show how the 
phonic, word, and sentence methods displaced 
the old A, B, C System of learning to read, 
nor why a combination of these three plans 
is now so largely in use. Let it suffice to say 
that three beneficial results have followed. 
Children take much greater interest in learn- 
ing to read; they learn to read much faster; 
they also form the habit of getting thought 
from the printed page much more quickly, 
for, instead of dwelling upon individual 
letters, the mind is trained to look for the 
meaning of a line or a sentence. 



Learning to Read 

Successful teachers may differ widely in 
the details of teaching reading to beginners, 
yet, as a rule, the same general principles 
114 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

are followed. Certain words in which the 
interest of the class has been aroused are 
printed, or written, on the blackboard. In 
some schools script is used largely, or entirely, 
for this work. In others only printed words 
are employed for the first five weeks, or 
longer. The latter plan is better, if the 
teacher prints well, since the transition from 
the words on the blackboard to the print 
in the books is easier. Pupils are led to 
associate the word or words with the ideas 
they represent. They observe the printed 
or written expressions carefully, and after- 
ward read them with the teacher, and later 
individually. Then they are tested and 
drilled on the words which are arranged in 
different order on various parts of the black- 
board. Lists of the words which have been 
taught are also kept on the blackboard for 
frequent review. 

The vocabulary thus taught is usually 
made up of words from the beginning of the 
primer, and so transition to the printed page 
readily follows. Usually there is frequent 
repetition and variety of arrangement of new 
words in each lesson in the book. Words are 
also frequently repeated in succeeding les- 
sons, especially if they present any particular 
difficulty. 

In the matter of calling attention to letters 
and letter sounds or phonics, there is a wide 
115 



A PARENT'S JOB 



difference. Some schools emphasize this 
feature from the outset, aiming to enable 
pupils to master new words for themselves 
as soon as possible. Others put this work off 
for a few months, and still others give very 
little intensive drill of the kind until toward 
the close of the second term. All efficient 
teachers, however, are careful to have their 
pupils gain right habits of speech through 
imitating the correct way of sounding the 
various letters and words; they also take 
particular pains with final consonant sounds, 
such as t or d before a word beginning with 
the sound of u, — for example, Don't you, 
Could you. 

Parents who follow the work their little 
ones are doing in school are surprised at the 
large number of words they are early able 
to recognize, and the facility with which 
they can read from the Primer. Careful 
observation of their progress will also dis- 
close the following facts : — 

Large words, such as grandpa or auto- 
mobile, are more readily learned than smaller 
ones. 

Words like dog, horse, and playhouse in 
which children naturally have special inter- 
est, and likewise words which they can 
demonstrate by action, such as fly, run, 
and jump, are quite readily retained. 

The, this, that, then, were, was, and others 
116 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

that are very similar in appearance, or have 
no special intrinsic interest, are difficult to 
retain and need the most drill. 

Children with excellent memories but with 
a tendency to be careless observers may 
seem to be reading remarkably well, when in 
reality they are repeating line after line from 
memory, being able to recognize but few of 
the individual words. 

These and various other difficulties the 
First Grade teacher of to-day is alert to 
overcome. Both fluency and naturalness of 
expression for her youthful charges are also 
among her constant aims. Considering the 
fact that probably, on the average, ninety- 
five percent, of her forty or more pupils can 
not recognize a word of script or print at the 
outset, that many of them are fidgety, care- 
less, or inattentive, that some are very dull, 
and that often one or more may be absolutely 
defective, is it not truly wonderful that 
she is able to accomplish so much? 

And yet an indiscriminating public often 
seems to think that because discipline is not 
hard, subject matter is easy, and hours of 
work are short, almost anybody can teach 
little children. The fact should be more 
generally recognized that no job in the 
school requires higher intelligence and skill, 
better directed energy and perseverance, 
more genuine and enthusiastic love of chil- 
117 



A PARENT'S JOB 



dren than that of the First Grade teacher. 
School Boards and other responsible officials 
should appreciate the fact that parents do 
not want such unwise economy in the manage- 
ment of their schools. 

Considering the fact that learning to read 
is really the most important of mental 
acquisitions and that success in various other 
studies depends so largely upon possessing 
this ability, is it not strange that so many 
intelligent parents who could readily find 
the time to assist, if they tried, are content 
if their children have only the instruction 
that one of from forty to fifty pupils can get 
from an over- worked First Grade teacher? 

How can parents help in this most inter- 
esting process? 

Have at home a copy of the basic Primer 
used in the child's class. 

Have the little one read at home each day 
the part of the text that has been taught at 
school. 

Make sure that he has not merely memo- 
rized the story but really knows the individual 
words. Drill on the words he does not seem 
to know well. 

If a small blackboard is part of the home 
apparatus, and every family that can afford 
it should have one, give drill also on the 
script forms of the various words, if the 
teacher is doing this. It is needless to say 
118 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

that enthusiastic praise and small financial 
rewards add materially to the success of 
these home reviews. 

Reading in the Second and Third Grades 

One or more books besides the basic Primer 
are usually read in the First Grade. Attrac- 
tive, illustrated books, which little folk 
delight to read at times when they have 
earned the privilege, are often kept on a low 
table somewhere in the First Grade class- 
room, and pupils can often recognize several 
hundred different words by the end of the 
first year. 

One of the very best ways parents can 
help in preparation for Second Grade is to 
have their children do enough reading and 
writing at home, during the long summer 
vacation, to keep this recently acquired stock 
of words fresh in mind and ready for use. 
The basic Primer and the home blackboard 
will help in this. So also will some of the 
numerous interesting books about animals, 
birds, and children which can now be so 
inexpensively obtained. Many children will 
gladly read to their parents from pure 
interest. When this factor alone is not 
sufficient incentive, a small reward for each 
book completed will add a tremendous 
stimulus. 

It is an excellent plan for every child to 
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A PARENT'S JOB 



begin to save for college expenses, at least 
by the age of five. The various money gifts 
received and rewards earned for lessons and 
other work should be placed in his little 
home bank, and the amounts accumulating 
therein should be deposited in a savings 
bank, just before the commencement of inter- 
est periods. Thus the child will grow up 
with the idea that he is going to college, 
and that higher education is something well 
worth working and saving for. 

As children advance in the grades, the 
reading text increases in difficulty. Through 
work with phonics, phonograms (similar sylla- 
bles of words, for example, ante in came, 
same, dame, fame, lame; ill in fill, mill, and 
till), and spelling, power to recognize new 
words for themselves is gradually gained. 
A steady growth in facility, spirit, and 
naturalness of expression should also be 
attained. Increased power to gain thought 
readily from the printed page is, in the end, 
the great aim of reading, and to cultivate 
this faculty, children are required to tell the 
thought of one or more paragraphs that 
have been read, or to read a paragraph 
silently and then give the thought. 

Teachers make a special effort to cultivate 
the following habits, and parents may profita- 
bly see to it that their children are gaining 
them. 

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THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

To have pupils stand squarely on both 
feet and to hold the book in the left hand 
about a foot from the eyes. 

To judge what unfamiliar words are 
through the sounds of letters and combina- 
tions of letters. 

To look to a word, phrase, or sentence for 
its meaning. 

To enunciate and pronounce correctly. 
To realize that a word is not a useful tool 
unless its pronunciation and meaning are 
known, and that the more words mastered 
in this way, the greater the possibilities for 
understanding, enjoying, and being useful. 

To ask intelligent questions about anything 
in the reading lesson they do not understand. 
Besides assuring themselves that these 
habits are being formed, parents may best 
assist in the reading work in the second and 
third grades by drilling their children on the 
new words in the various lessons. They may 
also help by giving special drill on the 
enunciation of final consonants and on the 
pronunciation of such commonly mispro- 
nounced words as new, news, duty, half, 
dance, again, been, pretty, and government. 
Even if these words are correctly taught in 
class, children hear them mispronounced so 
frequently out of school that they are likely 
to acquire the incorrect habit, unless often 
corrected at home. Calling attention to the 
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A PARENT'S JOB 



fact that new and news are, except for the 
initial letter, pronounced the same as mew 
and mews, and that the u in duty, duke, and 
similar words always has the long sound, 
will help, and pupils should be made to 
pronounce them correctly in concert again 
and again. 

Finally, the great motive for learning to 
read, — the fact that signs, advertisements, 
letters, papers, and books all have a special 
message for anyone who can recognize the 
words that compose them, should be kept 
constantly in children's minds. That the 
printed pages of books have far more inter- 
esting stories and useful information for 
them than even Grandma can tell, is also 
an incentive well worth while with little folk. 

It should also be remembered that in 
learning to read, interesting subject matter 
is a wonderful stimulus. In recent years, 
authors and publishers have made great 
advancement in producing interesting and 
attractive text-books for this purpose. How- 
ever, Boards of Education in some localities 
continue the use of unsuitable books as 
a matter of economy. By impressing their 
school officials with the greater desirability 
of the more interesting, better arranged, and 
more attractive texts, Parents' Associations 
can readily bring about a change for the 
better. 

122 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 



Penmanship 

Madame Montessori has very little chil- 
dren begin penmanship by feeling the form 
of letters cut out of sandpaper and tracing 
them in the air or on the blackboard. It is 
quite probable that such practice, either at 
home or in the Kindergarten, would be an 
aid to penmanship instruction in American 
schools. 

The general custom here, however, is to 
begin teaching penmanship along with read- 
ing in the First Grade. In recent years the 
beginning drill has been given at the black- 
board, where through practice in lines, loops, 
ovals, and curves, a foundation for free arm 
movement and muscular control is begun. 
The writing of letters and words on the black- 
board is next undertaken, the teacher setting 
the copy. The blackboard is excellent for 
this beginning work, because it gives oppor- 
tunity for larger writing and freer arm move- 
ment by pupils and more ready criticism by 
teachers; and pupils can profit by noting the 
work of other children and the criticisms 
made concerning it. 

After some muscular control and freedom 
of movement have been gained at the black- 
board, pupils take up the work in similar 
order with wax crayons or large soft lead 
pencils and paper at their desks. Here they 
123 



A PARENT'S JOB 



are shown the correct position for writing, — 
a point which needs much emphasis for 
several years. The following directions, or 
others similar to them, are widely used: 

Position for Writing 

1. Clear the desk to make room for free 
movement of the arm. 

2. Sit well back on the seat with both arms 
on the desk. 

3. Let the body lean forward from the 
hips, but do not allow it to touch the desk. 

4. Keep the shoulders even, the head 
erect, and the feet flat on the floor. 

5. Have the upper edge of the paper 
turned a little to the left, holding the 
paper firmly in place with the left hand. 

6. When writing, let the right arm rest 
on the muscle of the elbow, and keep the 
wrist free from the desk. 

Pencil or Pen Holding 

1. Hold the pencil or pen between the 
thumb and the first and second fingers, 
letting it cross the first finger at the knuckle 
near the hand and the second finger opposite 
the nail. 

2. Keep the thumb slightly bent and rest- 
ing on the side of the pencil or pen near the 
lower joint of the first finger. 

3. Keep the other two fingers bent under 

124 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

the hand, the end of the little finger lightly 
touching the paper as you write. 

The position described is conducive to 
health, free arm movement, and endurance. 
As the chest is not constricted, the lungs 
continue to furnish the normal supply of air. 
Since the circulation of blood to the head is 
not curtailed, vision is conserved. Because the 
muscles and organs are not cramped, bodily 
functions are not interfered with, and the 
greatest endurance is therefore made possible. 

It would be manifestly ridiculous to try 
to teach all of these facts to little children. 
The best that can be done is to show them 
the correct position, and gradually correct 
their faults, one by one. Pupils are taught 
to write large at first, because it is conducive 
to freer movement and better control. How- 
ever, the size of the letters is gradually re- 
duced, until in the fifth or sixth year the 
style normally employed in business and 
social writing is used. Frequent practice at 
the blackboard is kept up for several grades. 
The following are among the chief difficulties 
encountered in learning to write: 

1. To avoid resting the arm on the wrist 
and hand, and moving only the fingers while 
writing. 

2. To make correct letter forms, and to 
maintain the right relative dimensions. 

125 



A PARENT'S JOB 



3. To keep the writing straight. 

4. To slant all the letters in the same 
direction. 

5. To avoid back-hand writing. 

6. To join letters properly. 

7. To maintain uniform spacing. 

8. To dot i's and j's and cross t's. 

"A hopeless task!" an on-looker might 
well exclaim upon witnessing the first attempt 
of a class of beginners. Yet somehow through 
persistent effort, enthusiastic praise, well 
directed criticism, inexhaustible patience, 
the awarding of stars for good results, and 
displaying excellent papers in a conspicuous 
place, the First Grade teacher manages to 
give the great majority of her pupils an 
excellent start, which is ably supplemented 
by her successors in the Second and Third 
Grades. 

Pupils usually begin using pen and ink 
in the last part of the Second Grade or the 
first term of the Third. Carefulness about 
moistening a new pen-point before using it, 
dipping it lightly into the ink, keeping both 
nibs of the pen squarely on the paper, and 
wiping the pen when the writing is finished, 
should all be urged at this time, since all are 
essential to the best results. 

Although the typewriter is now almost 
exclusively used in business and professional 
126 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

work and is even rapidly increasing in 
popularity for personal correspondence, the 
habit of good penmanship is an accomplish- 
ment which parents should want their 
children to cultivate. Advertisements often 
require applications for a position to be 
made in writing. In such instances good 
penmanship may be the deciding factor in 
winning or losing the job, and it is always a 
material help in keeping one. Illegible hand- 
writing certainly detracts from the pleasure 
a friendly letter may give; it may also fre- 
quently be a cause of personal humiliation; 
while ability to write well will as often be a 
source of satisfaction. 

Certainly if with the one-fortieth of the 
teacher's time to which a child is entitled at 
school, he is not making satisfactory progress 
in learning to write, parents may well be 
interested in supplementing his progress at 
home. The following are some of the ways 
in which this may be effectively done : 

Showing interest in the child's daily prog- 
ress at school, and giving enthusiastic praise 
or other reward for all good papers brought 
home. 

Encouraging the use of the home black- 
board on rainy days and at other opportune 
times for drill in arm movement and writing. 
As the circular movement to the left is 
usually one of the most difficult parts for 
127 



A PARENT'S JOB 



children, practice on that may be especially 
helpful in the early grades. 

Noting which of the difficulties enumer- 
ated above the child is making least progress 
in overcoming, and co-operating, as the 
teacher may suggest, to help secure the 
desired improvement. 

Discouraging all careless and untidy writing 
at home, and heartily praising that which is 
of an opposite character. 

In assisting a child to improve in penman- 
ship, it is important for both teachers and 
parents to aim at some special point. Chil- 
dren may practice writing, for years, with the 
general idea of improving, and yet make 
little or no gain. Tangible progress is made 
by concentrating on one fault at a time, keep- 
ing up effort on that until the right habit 
is well begun; and then attacking the next 
most glaring weakness in a similar way. 

Spelling 

When Reading was taught by the Alpha- 
bet Method, Spelling was necessarily learned 
with that subject from the outset. For some 
years after the A, B, C Method became 
tabooed, little attention was given to Spelling, 
until work in composition and letter-writing 
was begun, which, as a rule, was in about 
the Third Grade. For children to continue 
to learn new words so long a time, without 
128 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

having especial attention called to the indi- 
vidual letters composing them, was not 
conducive to good orthography, and un- 
questionably resulted in an unusually large 
number of poor spellers. 

Fortunately, the pendulum, — as is often 
the case in educational methods, has swung 
back to a happy medium. As a rule, the 
letters are now known, and some drill in the 
spelling of easy words is given in the second 
term of the first grade, and of course much 
earlier where particular emphasis is placed 
on phonics. 

While in recent years spelling-books have 
been prepared for Second and Third Grades, 
and at least one series has included words 
for first-year pupils, a special text-book for 
spelling is not used by pupils in many school 
systems until the Fourth or Fifth Grades. 
Previous to that time, teachers select the 
words for their classes to spell from the read- 
ing and other lessons, and in some grades 
partly from a Speller which is furnished the 
teacher. Easy one-syllable words are usually 
first selected, the more difficult ones being 
gradually introduced. Care is also taken to 
choose words that children will be able 
to use in their written composition. 

The teacher first writes the words to be 
spelled on the blackboard, taking care to 
separate them into syllables and making 
129 



A PARENT'S JOB 



sure that the meaning of each is understood. 
Pupils spell and pronounce the words aloud, 
first with the teacher, and then collectively, 
or individually without her help; and some- 
times, in this preliminary study, they also 
write the individual words, pronouncing 
each as it is being written. Both of these 
practices are excellent in making the ear 
sensitive to correct spelling, and should not 
be omitted. Special drill of this kind should 
be given on such words as February, 
library, and government, which are so often 
spelled " Febuary," " libary," and " gover- 
ment," largely because the one making the 
mistake has never sensed the correct pro- 
nunciation through the ear. 

At the time the lesson is given out, atten- 
tion is also called to silent letters (for example, 
i in sail, e in gate) and to groups of letters 
having the sound of one letter (for example, 
eigh having the sound of a in eighty). These 
and other difficulties are usually underlined 
with colored chalk to help focus attention 
upon them. 

Such well-known stumbling-blocks as Tues- 
day, Wednesday, business, and biscuit are 
heralded as Bad Indians, or some other vari- 
ety of opponent interesting to children, and 
much enthusiasm is aroused for conquer- 
ing these redoubtable enemies in the very 
first engagement. 

130 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

One of the best exercises to make pupils 
proficient in spelling is drill in rapid eye- 
perception work. A word or a combination 
of letters not forming a word, — preferably 
the latter, — is written on the blackboard and 
quickly erased; the children are then required 
to tell the letters in the order they were 
written. Similar drill may also be given by 
using combinations of letters on cards. 
Another plan for this rapid perception work 
is to have children open books at a certain 
page, quickly glance at a readily located 
word which the teacher specifies, and then 
close the book instantly and give the order 
of the letters of the word mentioned. These 
exercises may all be conducted with such 
spirit as to seem as good fun as a game to 
children. The practice is exceedingly valu- 
able, since ability to quickly perceive the 
letters of a word in their correct order is the 
most important habit in the process of learn- 
ing to spell. 

Efficient teachers also instruct their pupils 
concerning the following points with reference 
to the effective study of spelling: — 

To discriminate as to which words of the 
assigned lesson one can already spell and to 
concentrate effort upon the others. 

To judge what the difficult part of a word 
is and to learn to master that. 

To look at a word carefully, then to close 
131 



A PARENT'S JOB 



the eyes and try to picture the correct order 
of the letters. 

To spell words aloud to oneself by syl- 
lables and thus get the order of the letters 
correct through the sense of hearing. 

After trying to fasten the correct order of 
the letters in the mind through the eye and 
the ear routes, to test the memory by trying 
to write several words on paper without 
looking at the book. 

When one feels sure that all the words 
have been thoroughly learned, have some 
one at home pronounce them for a written 
lesson. 

Pupils who follow the above plan in study- 
ing their spelling lessons are likely to become 
good spellers, because the effort they expend 
is well directed. 

The correction of written spelling les- 
sons is also a vital point. Misspelled 
words should be checked and a systematic 
plan should be followed for having the 
attack on them kept up by individual 
pupils until complete mastery is gained. 
To this end, pupils should not write 
Spelling lessons on loose paper which may 
be carelessly thrown away, but in per- 
manent notebooks. The leaves of this 
book should not be torn out, and it should 
be carefully kept after all pages have been 
filled. In the back part of it, a few pages 
132 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

should be reserved for a complete list of 
words misspelled in various lessons, so that 
they may often be reviewed and finally con- 
quered. Perhaps the greatest help of all is 
to inspire children with genuine zest for 
continuing the attack upon a troublesome 
word and enthusiastic joy at its final mastery. 
" I've taken that hard old word into camp I 
It won't trouble me any more!" should be 
the joyous war song, as the pupil marches 
proudly on to further conquests in the 
spelling world. 

It can be readily seen that teachers are 
working intelligently in anticipating the 
difficulties which English spelling presents 
to children, and in training pupils to gain the 
mastery. Nevertheless almost every class 
in almost every educational institution, be 
it elementary, high school, or college, has 
some pupils who are woefully poor spellers, 
and far too many others whose habits of 
orthography are not creditable. This may 
be due to large registration, especially in the 
early grades, where habits of work are so 
largely formed. No doubt some teachers are 
much less effective in teaching this subject 
than others. Whatever the cause may be, 
it is altogether likely that the intelligent co- 
operation of the home in the Spelling in- 
struction might have proved the ounce of 
prevention. 

133 



A PARENT'S JOB 



How Parents May Help in Spelling 
Instruction 

See to it that their children absolutely 
know the twenty-six letters of the alphabet, 
— not merely to repeat them glibly in order, 
but to distinguish each instantly from other 
letters bearing a close resemblance (for ex- 
ample, d from b, k from A, u from n, q from 
g). This may be done before the child 
attends school, or at least prior to his com- 
mencing to learn to spell. Blocks, spelling 
frame, cardboard letters, and newspaper 
headings are among the best aids. Having 
a child pick out a certain letter from the 
words in a brief paragraph, is also excellent 
practice, if the print is sufficiently large. 
Incidental practice will accomplish some- 
thing. However, regular, systematic drill, 
five minutes daily, or several times a week, 
will rarely fail to bring the desired result. 

Make sure that the child's lack of facility 
is not due to defective vision. Glasses will 
often convert an apparently hopeless spelling 
pupil into a most promising one, since cor- 
recting the astigmatic or other defect of the 
eye makes quick and accurate perception 
possible. 

Keep in touch with the beginning and prog- 
ress of the child's school work in spelling, 
and supplement wherever weakness is shown. 
134 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

Should keenness of hearing be lacking, pro- 
nouncing the words aloud and spelling them 
by syllables with the child will help. If he 
is slow in noting the letters of a word in their 
correct order, then perception drills will be 
an aid. In case there is little system about 
his method of study, definite direction will 
improve that weakness. At any rate, enough 
interest should be taken to pronounce the 
words aloud, after he claims to have learned 
the lesson, not forgetting to give generous 
praise for good results and to require more 
effective preparation if there is evidence that 
it is needed. 

Arithmetic 

Some decades ago arithmetic was taught 
chiefly through definitions, rules and drill. 
The various tables were recited and even 
sung in concert, forward and backward, 
times without number. Definitions and rules 
were learned letter perfect and glibly applied. 
Notation, Numeration, Addition, Subtrac- 
tion, Multiplication, Division, Greatest Com- 
mon Divisor, Least Common Multiple, Com- 
mon Fractions, Decimal Fractions, and other 
topics were taken up in order, each one being 
intensively treated before the next was intro- 
duced. A pupil who attended only a certain 
part of a year often went over the same 
topics again and again. 
135 



A PARENT'S JOB 



Problem work was written on the slate or 
blackboard in the form that it was worked 
out, no special emphasis being placed upon 
orderly arrangement. In case of error, the 
infallible rule was conjured with to settle all 
doubts. Examples frequently dealt with 
unreasonably large numbers, and among the 
problems was a liberal sprinkling of more or 
less impractical puzzles which, in some 
conquering souls, inspired zest for finding 
something harder with which to stick the 
teacher. This was of course before the 
period when children balked at anything 
uninteresting or hard, and prior to the time 
when the simple amusements of the home 
ceased to furnish the chief diversion for 
leisure hours. A large percentage of those 
who finished this course in the elementary 
school at least gained a fair amount of 
accuracy in the fundamental processes, to- 
gether with some ability and liking for 
independent work. 

However, when educators began to take 
account of the teaching of the various ele- 
mentary subjects from the child's point of 
view, it was readily discerned that teaching 
a subject abstractly by definition and rule 
was poor pedagogy. Gradually the study 
of arithmetic was put off until the second or 
third year. Object teaching and develop- 
ment work displaced the close adherence to 
136 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

the hard and fast definitions and rules. The 
Grube Method, by which all the combinations 
with reference to one number are taught 
before the next is taken up, found favor in 
some schools, and was adapted in a modified 
way to the prevailing method in others. 
Paper superseded the slate as a medium for 
lesson preparation, and much emphasis began 
to be placed upon the orderly statement of 
a problem by steps with the operations 
indicated. Such points as always using the 
abstract number for a multiplier, or having 
one of the dimensions of a surface represent 
the number of square units in a row, and the 
other dimension, the number of rows of 
such units, were made more or less promi- 
nent. 

Text-books prepared on the so-called 
Spiral Plan, first presenting a little of the 
various topics in a very elementary way, 
then going over the same field again with 
harder examples, and again, later, with 
others still more difficult, came much into 
vogue. One group of pedagogues exploited 
the theory that comparing geometric forms 
was the open sesame to a ready and thorough 
understanding of Arithmetic, while still an- 
other band of enthusiasts hailed early and 
frequent practice in measurements as the 
cure for all arithmetical ills. Each change 
had its ardent advocates and enthusiastic 
137 



A PARENT'S JOB 



converts. Each departure, if an advocated 
change gained enough headway to be digni- 
fied by such a term, was followed sooner or 
later by a reaction. Nevertheless each had 
some elements of good, and contributed some- 
thing of value to the whole. 

The inevitable result of such a changeable 
status, however, has been confusion, — con- 
fusion to teachers who have naturally felt 
that there was no firm arithmetical ground 
upon which to cast anchor; confusion to 
parents who have so often exclaimed im* 
patiently, when children needed guidance at 
home but rejected the proffered help, since 
it lacked familiar ear-marks, " I can get the 
answer but I don't know how the teacher 
does it!" 

Continued agitation is always upsetting, 
but it usually produces some genuine reform, 
and in this respect Arithmetic has been no 
exception. While probably each status de- 
scribed above may still prevail in some 
localities, it may be safely asserted that the 
following facts with reference to the teach- 
ing of Arithmetic are rapidly becoming 
recognized by thoughtful educators: — 

Children in the First Grade have a natural 
interest in number because counting and 
very elementary addition are used in the 
games they play outside of school. A 
knowledge of small values is also necessary 
138 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

in their trifling trades and purchases. Every- 
day they can see that more knowledge of 
numbers will increase their ability to under- 
stand and to enjoy. Therefore systematic 
teaching of number is frequently begun in 
the first year of school. The maximum 
taught is usually counting, reading, and 
writing numbers to 100; the addition and 
subtraction facts to 20; the fraction ^; the 
foot, inch, pint, and quart, under measures; 
the small coins children are likely to use; 
counting by 10's, 5's, and 2's to 100. In 
some schools, the addition and subtraction 
facts to 10 or 12 are the limit. There are 
also some that include the multiplication 
facts as well as those of addition and sub- 
traction. 

As a rule, a text-book is not placed in the 
hands of children until the Third Grade. 
Teachers develop the number ideas through 
the use of lines, splints, and other objects, 
the figures and names being learned from the 
blackboard. Splints, sticks, inch cubes, 
foot-rules, marked in inches, pint and quart 
measures, and toy money are among the 
most commonly used illustrative material 
in this grade. Number card exercises, play- 
ing store, folding paper, and various other 
activities and games are utilized for drill. 

In the Second Grade, counting and read- 
ing and writing numbers are extended to 
139 



A PARENT'S JOB 



200 or beyond; addition and subtraction 
facts include the forty-five combinations; 
the easier multiplication tables, often the 
2's and 5's, or the 2's, 5's, and 3's, are learned; 
and some new facts within the child's experi- 
ence and understanding are added to each 
of the other lines of work introduced in the 
First Grade. 

Reading and writing numbers to 10,000 
or higher, Roman notation, at least as far 
as the children's experience requires the 
information, and the completion of the 
multiplication tables constitute the chief 
additional subject matter for the Third 
Grade. One-step, and in some schools, 
two-step problems are also used for oral 
and written statement in this year's 
work. 

The advantages of this course for the 
primary grades over the old-time formal 
rule and definition method can be readily 
noted. The subject matter is within the 
comprehension of pupils and supplies a real 
need in their lives. Discrimination has been 
used in proceeding from the simple to the 
more difficult, and in eliminating unreason- 
ably large numbers and impractical or useless 
problems and topics. 

Nevertheless parents and teachers both 
know that arithmetic is a subject in which 
the final results in our elementary schools 
140 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

to-day are not satisfactory. The old nursery 
rhyme, — 

" Multiplication is vexation, 
Division is as bad; 
The rule of three doth trouble me, 
And fractions make me mad." 

has just as wide an appeal among the youth 
of to-day as it has ever had. Far too many 
young folk go into business life inaccurate 
in the abstract fundamental processes. Per- 
haps an even larger number leave school 
practically helpless in mastering problems 
that are stated differently from those they 
have already solved, or that depart even in 
a slight degree from the line of reasoning 
over which they have been personally con- 
ducted and drilled by a patient teacher. The 
question of developing better reasoning power 
will be taken up in a succeeding chapter, as 
it chiefly concerns grades beyond the third. 
Habits that lead to facility in accurate 
computation are largely formed in the first 
three years and therefore should be con- 
sidered here. 

The question naturally arising at the out- 
set is, why, if the subject matter is selected 
more intelligently and presented more inter- 
estingly, are the results not better than they 
were under the old method? 

Of course new subjects of study have come 
in to divide the time, but this alone is- not 
141 



A PARENT'S JOB 



the reason. Perhaps too many Arithmetic 
topics are introduced in a term. Possibly 
in the revulsion from the abstract, unscien- 
tific way of teaching Arithmetic, some really 
valuable features, such as frequent oral 
repetition of number combinations and long- 
continued drill on abstract fundamental 
processes, have been too little employed. It 
may be that an unnecessary amount of time 
is spent in object development, or on the 
numerous games and other devices used for 
applying the number facts taught. Very 
likely, in many instances, classes are so 
large that pupils naturally backward in 
number can not be given the attention they 
require. 

Whatever the cause may be, the remedy 
is unquestionably certain. Teachers and 
parents must agree that the essential part of 
the term's work is the automatic quick and 
accurate oral and written expression of the 
number facts taught; that the reasoning 
and information part of the course may 
well, if necessary, bide its time until later, 
but that facility and accuracy in computing 
numbers, as far as it extends in that par- 
ticular term, must be gained. If the instruc- 
tion at school accomplishes that result, very 
well; if it fails to do so, then the work 
of the teacher must be supplemented at 
home. 

142 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

There are various ways in which parents 
may be serviceable in this process. The 
first is to keep familiar with what their 
children are being taught at school in count- 
ing and in addition and multiplication com- 
binations, and to let them know that genuine 
interest is taken at home in their master- 
ing these perfectly. Then children should 
have practice at home in counting and 
in the number facts taught, pains being 
taken to commend creditable accuracy and 
speed. 

As the addition and multiplication com- 
binations are taught, sets of number cards 
with which to train the eye should be pre- 
pared. For example, when the ten addition 
facts with reference to 2 have been taught, 
ten pieces, about 7 inches by 4 inches, 
should be cut out of cardboard, and a dif- 
ferent combination written on each in large 
figures (| 4 5 ) . On the opposite side of the 
card, the right answer should be noted, so 
that the one who is testing with them can 
instantly tell if the answer the child gives is 
correct. Testing with these is excellent 
practice, if the pupil is trained to answer as 
quickly as possible the second the card is 
held up to view. As soon as answers come 
readily when the cards are shown forward and 
backward, they should, as a rule, be used out 
of regular rotation, since numbers encoun- 
143 



A PARENT'S JOB 



tered in actual business transactions rarely 
have figures in regular order. 

Writing the numbers from to 12 out of 
regular order on the blackboard, and then 
requiring pupils to give the answers rapidly 
when a specified number is added, sub- 
tracted, or used as a multiplier, is also excel- 
lent practice. The pupil may give the 
answers orally, or step to the blackboard 
and write them as quickly as possible. When 
an instructor is sure that pupils are able to 
distinguish figures rapidly, the repetition 
of the expression, "2+5=7," "5x8=40," 
should not be allowed; the answer 7, or 40 
should be given without preliminary state- 
ment. This makes for quicker think- 
ing, and hence for greater accuracy and 
speed. 

In column addition, greater rapidity may 
likewise be cultivated, if the practice of 
pointing out the figures while pupils add is 
soon discarded. While the teacher allows 
the pointer to rest upon the various figures, 
the children's minds naturally pause. A 
better plan is to give the direction, add this 
column (up or down, as the teacher may 
prefer). 

An exercise having the numbers from 

to 12 arranged in a circle on the blackboard 

with the number to be added, subtracted, or 

used as a multiplier in the center, is much 

144 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

used in schools. This is popular because of 
its novelty, but it is not so good as the plan 
suggested above, since in actual business life 
numbers are not arranged in circular order 
for the fundamental processes. 

A vital point to be applied in this early- 
instruction is not to let a pupil grope for or 
guess at an answer. Should his hesitation 
be due to inattention, greater concentration 
should be stimulated. If he really does not 
know the correct fact, it should be told him. 
If time will permit, however, care should be 
taken to ask him that same combination 
several times before the close of the recita- 
tion. 

Having pupils race, either in writing the 
tables or in noting the answers when num- 
bers from to 12 have been written out of 
order on the blackboard, arouses enthusi- 
astic interest and is an excellent exercise. 
Number combination contests, like spelling 
matches, also arouse a high pitch of en- 
thusiasm for the work. 

Some of the games which are not practical 
for extensive use with a large class in school 
may be very profitably used at home. The 
bean-bag game is one of the most interesting. 
A pine box with a sloping top large enough 
to contain four or more holes marked 2, 
4, 5, or whatever number each is to count, 
providing the bean bag is pitched into it, is 
145 



A PARENT'S JOB 



placed about five feet away. Each child in 
the game has a turn at pitching the bags and 
may keep his own score, or a pupil not 
pitching may act as scorekeeper. An oblong 
floor space divided into squares may be used 
for the game but will not answer the purpose 
so well as the box. Additional interest in 
the game and more practice in Arithmetic 
are both afforded, if one or more of the holes 
or spaces count minus 2, 3, or some other 
number. Ring Toss, too, may be used in a 
similar way, 5 being counted when the ring 
goes over the post, 3 when it rests against 
it, 2 when it is within a foot of the post, and 
minus 1 when it is more than a foot away. 
Other numbers should be substituted for the 
ones enumerated after facility in computing 
the score with these has been gained. Chil- 
dren need no urging to take part in this sort 
of Arithmetic, and with the exception of an 
umpire for an occasional disputed point, 
will require little supervision while engaged 
in it. Parents who are interested may find 
numerous suggestions along this line in 
" Journeys in Numberland," " Work and 
Play With Numbers," and " Everyday Arith- 
metic." 

The Austrian Method of Subtraction is used 
in many schools, and should be universally 
introduced, since it saves learning subtrac- 
tion tables. For instance, in taking 42 from 
146 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

86, the example is written down as usual 

86 

42 

44 
but instead of saying 2 from 6 leaves 4, and 
4 from 8 leaves 4, the pupil is taught to say 
4 plus 2 equals 6, and 4 plus 4 equals 8, 
placing each figure thus used in its correct 
place in the answer. Briefly stated, the pupil 
writes in units place of the remainder the 
figure that added to units place of the sub- 
trahend will give the units figure of the 
minuend, and so on with tens, hundreds, etc. 
In an example involving borrowing, such as 

32 

11 
19 

beginning pupils would write the example 
2 12 

I _! 
1 9 

and in explanation say, " 32 equals 2 tens 
and 12 units, 9 units and 3 units are 12 
units; 1 ten and 1 ten are 2 tens." 

If a clerk is given a dollar bill for 34 cents' 
worth, he does not mentally or on paper put 
the 34 under 100 and subtract. He says, 
" 34 and 16 are 50 and 50 are 100," and 
probably gives a dime, a nickel, 1 cent, and 
2 quarters or a fifty-cent piece in change. 
147 



A PARENT'S JOB 



Persons constantly making change do this 
way automatically, because it is easier and 
more accurate. This is a strong reason for 
saving children the time and effort required 
to memorize subtraction tables, and con- 
centrating their attention upon addition. 
In preparation for this work, a child should 
be asked, when he learns an addition combi- 
nation, — for example, 5 and 3 are 8, or 6 
and 4 are 10, — what number added to 3 
makes 8; what number added to 6 makes 10? 

So also while teaching the multiplication 
facts, the way should be paved for division 
by asking, for example, when 4 times 9 or 8 
times 5 are taught, not only 4 times 9 are 
how many? or 8 times 5 are how many? 
but also, how many 4's in 36? how many 
5's in 40? 

Finally, the idea that accuracy and facility 
in computation need be hard or impossible 
for any normal child, should be banished from 
the home and from the school. Instead of 
allowing children to become imbued with 
the idea that there are so many abstract 
facts to learn that they cannot possibly 
remember them, make them at once realize 
the fact that there are only forty-five ad- 
dition combinations and forty-five multi- 
plication combinations, that do not appear 
in previous tables, and that all others are 
simply repetitions. 

148 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

They will be surprised to find that there 
are only forty-five different addition facts 
and forty-five in multiplication, and will 
likewise be quite ashamed that they have 
failed to master so small a number. Con- 
sidering the fact that there are really so few 
abstract combinations to be automatically 
used, it seems absolutely unnecessary for 
children to leave school without knowing 
them perfectly. As in other attainments, 
however, the right start is essential for gain- 
ing creditable skill. That start should and 
may be gained in the first three grades, if 
teachers and parents will only make it the 
goal, and co-operate effectively to achieve the 
desired end. 

Oral Language 

In the first three grades pupils are given 
practice in Oral Language through con- 
versation about personal experiences, ani- 
mals, and other interesting topics; by repro- 
ducing stories they have heard; by describing 
familiar objects; and in the Second and Third 
grades, by telling in their own words the 
thought of a paragraph or more of the reading 
lesson. 

Good tone of voice and correctness of 
speech are emphasized in this work, but to 
prevent self-consciousness and lack of free- 
dom, criticisms are usually withheld until 
149 



A PARENT'S JOB 



individual recitations are completed. In 
this work it is also well to concentrate criti- 
cism upon a few points until improvement 
is shown in them, after which others may be 
profitably included. 

These early years are the period in which 
to lay the foundations for correct habits of 
speech. Accordingly all of the points with 
reference to pronunciation and enunciation 
mentioned in this chapter under Reading 
and many additional ones should be empha- 
sized, and children should be made to say 
the correct form again and again. Correct 
grammar should likewise be given attention 
in a similar way from the outset. 

Children who are naturally backward in 
expressing themselves, or who have poor 
enunciation or other faults of speech, may 
profitably be given practice in Oral Language 
at home. The story-telling hours furnish 
excellent opportunities for this. Encourag- 
ing a child to tell the story to which he has 
just listened, and correcting the faults of 
speech as suggested, will often accomplish 
great improvement. 

A multiplicity of ands is often the chief 
error children make in such oral language 
practice. They should be shown how, by 
letting the voice fall and starting a new 
sentence, this fault may often be avoided. 
If the too frequent use of " and " is still 
150 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

continued, as pupils advance in the grades, 
fables and other short selections should be 
used for reproduction, and the direction 
given, " Tell this story, using and a certain 
number of times (for example, no more 
than twice)." The And game in which 
another child is allowed to go on with the 
recitation, if the pupil reciting uses and more 
than the specified number of times, often 
makes pupils more keen on this point. 

Written Composition 

Copying sentences which the teacher 
writes on the blackboard or on individual 
papers is the beginning of written compo- 
sition. First- Year pupils do this very nicely. 
They also get the idea of commencing proper 
names and the first word of a sentence with 
a capital letter. The use of a period and an 
exclamation mark to close a complete state- 
ment and the interrogation point to end a 
question, are also taught them. Writing 
original questions or statements about some 
object is likewise frequently done in First 
Year. 

In Second Grade pupils soon gain the 
power to combine several brief sentences 
about the same thing into a paragraph. 
Later they also write short paragraphs of 
their own. A reproduction of something 
151 



A PARENT'S JOB 



brief that has been told is usually the begin- 
ning. Telling what one has done, facts about 
some person, animal, or thing, and brief 
descriptions of familiar objects readily follow. 
In all such work, care should be taken to pre- 
cede the written expression with oral compo- 
sition. 

Letter Writing is usually commenced fn 
the latter part of Second or the beginning 
of Third Grade. This practice furnishes 
additional interest and stimulus, since its 
practical use can be so readily appreciated. 
As to the mechanics of written composition, 
leaving an equal margin on both sides of 
the sheet (three-quarters of an inch is a good 
amount), having the margin at the bottom 
reasonably commensurate with that at the 
top, indenting the first line of a paragraph 
an inch or more from the margin, and closing 
sentences with period, question mark, or 
exclamation point, are the chief things 
emphasized. 

The following mistakes are likely to be 
made in this beginning work. Pleased by 
the free expression and vivid imagination 
shown in the written composition of pupils, 
teachers often place too little emphasis upon 
mechanical correctness. It is excellent to 
encourage freedom and quantity of expres- 
sion in Oral Language. In Written Compo- 
sition, however, brief paragraphs, as nearly 
152 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

correct as possible, should be the aim at 
first. 

A uniform standard as to heading, margin, 
and other points, is lacking in too many 
schools. For instance, a Third Grade teacher 
may have her pupils leave a three-fourths 
inch margin on both sides of the page, while 
a Fourth or Fifth Grade instructor may 
require a margin only on the left side. In 
one class the heading of a letter may be 
written in three lines; in another, in two; 
and in still another, in one line. Again in 
one class a comma may be used after the 
street, city, state, and day of month, and a 
period after the year; while, in a higher 
class, a comma after the city and one after 
the day of month may be the only punctua- 
tion employed. Pupils should be told that 
both ways are in accordance with good usage, 
but one form should be used throughout the 
grades in order that a right punctuation 
habit may be established. 

It is not sufficient simply to show pupils 
the right form or punctuation a few times. 
They should absolutely memorize the facts 
taught, and not be allowed to go on from 
grade to grade omitting or misusing them. 
When the faculties of elementary schools 
decide upon definite facts of form and 
punctuation which pupils are to be held 
accountable for in each grade, and have these 
153 



A PARENT'S JOB 



memorized at the time they are taught and 
frequently reviewed until they are used 
automatically, Grammar Grade and High 
School pupils will make fewer errors in these 
purely mechanical points. 

Often the cultivation of correct judgment 
as to where one sentence ends and a new one 
begins (spoken of as sentence sense) is not 
made one of the fundamental aims in early 
composition work. Pupils are allowed to 
drift along and gain it somehow from the 
corrections on written papers. Now a pupil 
can really be credited with but very little 
actual progress until this sense is developed, 
at least to a fair degree, since without it there 
is indeed very small foundation on which to 
build. Therefore definite, progressive effort 
must be made to cultivate this power. 

In developing sentence sense it is a great 
help for children to have their attention 
frequently called to the fact that where the 
voice naturally falls, when reading aloud, 
a sentence should usually be ended and a 
new one begun. Copying a brief paragraph 
from a book, then writing the same from 
memory, and afterward comparing it with 
the original with reference to the beginning 
and ending of sentences, is good practice. 
Probably the best exercise of all to develop 
accurate sentence sense is to have pupils 
write unpunctuated paragraphs which the 
154 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

teacher has placed on the blackboard or 
mimeographed on paper, and put in the 
capital letters and punctuation marks neces- 
sary to make good sense. If pains are taken 
to have such paragraphs progressive as to 
length and variety of sentences, this exercise 
may be made very helpful, since it not only 
tests pupils' judgment but also emphatically 
illustrates how little sense words make with- 
out the necessary capital letters and closing 
marks of punctuation. The dictation of 
brief paragraphs may also be helpful in 
developing this sense, especially during the 
period when an effort is being made to train 
pupils to connect the falling of the voice in 
reading aloud with the use of a closing mark. 

There is too much useless correction of 
written compositions. Teachers frequently 
note too many points in their corrections; 
too often they also write in the correct 
capital letter, punctuation, or spelling, and 
require pupils to rewrite the corrected manu- 
script. This children frequently do care- 
lessly, making the same mistakes or even 
worse ones, and the result is that little or 
no progress is made. Some benefit may be 
more or less automatically absorbed, but it 
is certainly not through the exercise of 
thought on the part of pupils. 

It is far better to concentrate on a few 
points, — for instance, through the Fifth 
155 



A PARENT'S JOB 



Grade, on the capital letter to begin a proper 
name and the first word of a sentence, and 
the period, question mark, or exclamation 
point to close a sentence; and not to make 
the definite correction on the paper. Instead, 
a question mark should be placed in the 
margin opposite the lines in which a capital 
letter may be needed, also a plus sign, if a 
necessary closing mark has not been used; 
and any misspelled words which children 
should have written correctly should be 
underlined. 

The next exercise will of course be to have 
pupils find out and correct their mistakes. 
At first it is necessary for teachers to guide 
in this work, by copying paragraphs or 
sentences from pupils' papers on the black- 
board, and piloting them in finding the 
errors, but at the same time compelling 
original thinking as far as possible. Gradu- 
ally pupils will learn to find mistakes for 
themselves, and will later be fitted for inde- 
pendent corrections. From the outset much 
emphasis should be placed upon forming the 
habit of carefully re-reading and correcting 
one's own written papers before handing 
them to the teacher, thus avoiding the care- 
less errors that often attend the first writing. 
This habit of second careful consideration is 
a very valuable one, and these early years 
are the best time to start it. If this standard 
156 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

of painstaking, careful effort is maintained 
both in school and at home, and the penalty 
of re-writing unfailingly follows any careless 
or untidy work, creditable progress will be 
made. 

Geography 

Usually a text-book in Geography is not 
used by children until the last term of the 
third year or the beginning of the fourth. 
Considerable preparatory information is, how- 
ever, incidentally taught in connection with 
Reading and Language, and such words as 
here, there, above, below, up, down, before, 
behind, right and left, which must be known 
to understand position and direction, are 
in the usual First Grade vocabulary. The 
cardinal points and their use in locating 
objects in the schoolroom and neighborhood 
are generally taught in the Second Year. 
"Seven Little Sisters," "Each and All," 
and other books giving simple and interesting 
descriptions of the homes and lives of little 
folk in various parts of the world, are also 
read in Second Grade; and in their Drawing 
and Manual Training, pupils in these classes 
often illustrate the homes, utensils, and lives 
of the interesting people with whom they 
thus become acquainted. 

In Third Grade, pupils frequently begin to 
observe weather conditions, noting tempera- 
157 



A PARENT'S JOB 



ture, winds, the varying time of sunrise and 
sunset, the position of the sun in the heavens, 
the shadow cast by the sun, change of seasons, 
and other points. To broaden children's 
ideas of the largeness of the world and the 
various conditions of life' in its different 
parts, " Around the World " (Carroll), " Lit- 
tle Folks of Many Lands " (Chance), and 
other books may be read. To emphasize the 
need of home, food, and shelter, an abridged 
account of Robinson Crusoe's adventures is 
sometimes read and discussed. Home Geog- 
raphy is often a part of the work of this 
grade. In this connection, pupils learn to 
make maps of the schoolroom, school-yard, 
and the region in which the school is located; 
the climate, prevailing wind, soil, vegetable 
products, and important manufactures are 
talked about. How the latter are transported 
to other places and how local needs are 
supplied by shipments from distant regions 
are also considered. Why local government 
is needed, and an elementary idea of what it 
is, may likewise be developed. Thus by 
examining and considering local conditions 
which pupils are naturally interested in and 
can more or less readily understand, a founda- 
tion is laid for the study of world geography 
which will soon follow. 

The great majority of children like geogra- 
phy because it unfolds so much new informa- 
158 



THE FIRST THREE GRADES 

tion to them. They are especially interested 
in the lives and homes of children of other 
lands, and frequently take even greater 
delight in books containing this information 
than they do in fairy stories. In addition 
to the books already mentioned under this 
topic, Shaw's " Big People and Little People 
of Other Lands," Schwatka's " Children of 
the Cold," Allen's " Children of the Palm 
Land," Miller's "Little People of Asia," 
Lane's "The Wide World," and Chase's 
" Stories of Industries," all contain interest- 
ing information. Parents will find these and 
other books of a similar character excellent 
to read aloud to little folk at home. In fact 
some of these volumes are so interesting and 
so simple in style that many children will 
read them without the help of parents. 



159 



CHAPTER IX 

Home Co-operation in the Fourth, Fifth 
and Sixth School Years — The In- 
termediate Grades 

AS children advance in school, more 
difficult lessons are assigned them, 
and they are expected to depend less 
and less upon the teacher in preparing their 
work. Bearing this fact in mind and like- 
wise remembering how early in life habits 
are formed and how tenaciously they cling, 
it is plain that the Intermediate years fur- 
nish the best opportunities for clinching 
fundamental points and habits which pupils 
have failed to gain in preceding grades. 

Reading 

-- - 

In Primary Grades, Reading is given by 
far the largest share of time in the daily 
program; the subject is taught with great 
spirit and enthusiasm, and pupils are kept 
eager to learn the new words of the various 
lessons. 

In the Fourth and succeeding grades, 

however, Arithmetic, Geography, Spelling, 

and other subjects in which accountability 

for results may be more definitely fixed, 

160 



FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES 

crowd the program. Pupils in these grades 
have a comparatively large vocabulary and 
considerable facility in judging the pro- 
nunciation of new words; and since some 
teachers are inclined to let the Reading 
recitation lapse into a more or less per- 
functory word-pronunciation period, chil- 
dren find it easy to slip through with little 
or no preparation, and so neglect the subject. 

When the intensive study of a poem, ! novel, 
or play is begun in the Eighth Grade or in 
First Year High School, teachers are often 
astonished at the large number of commonly 
used words of whose meaning many pupils 
seem entirely ignorant and at the inability 
of the great majority to get the thought 
quickly and correctly from the printed page. 
The reason probably is that for several years 
past, instead of intelligently studying the 
reading lesson and making new words a part 
of their vocabulary by learning to use them, 
pupils have been allowed to progress with 
merely showing more or less facility in pro- 
nouncing words. 

The failure of children to understand the 
meaning of new words and to get the thought 
of the text which so many hours of the school 
day are spent in reading, is undoubtedly one 
of the most serious defects of Primary School 
instruction. It accounts not only for the 
weakness mentioned in connection with 
161 



A PARENT'S JOB 



Eighth Grade and High School literature 
instruction, but also primarily for the failures 
in the reasoning part of Arithmetic, and in 
all studies in which successful progress de- 
pends largely upon ability to understand the 
thought expressed on the printed page. 

A little extra foresight and planning on 
the part of teachers will to a great extent 
correct this weakness. Instead of merely 
calling attention to a few new words and 
giving some drill in pronouncing them, care 
should be taken when assigning new lessons 
from at least the Third through the Eighth 
Grades to write on the board a number of 
questions that will insure an acquaintance 
with the important words of the lesson, and 
compel an intensive preliminary reading in 
study-time to gain the thought expressed in 
the text. 

For example, in assigning a lesson to a 
Fifth Grade Class on Prince Charlie, a se- 
lection from Louisa Alcott's Little Men, 
which tells how Dan, one of the " difficult " 
boys of the Plumfield school, trained Mr. 
Laurie's spirited colt to submit to saddle and 
bridle, questions like the following may be 
profitably used: 

1. What was Prince Charlie, and who 
owned him? 

2. How did Dan first make friends with 
Prince Charlie? 

162 



FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES 



3. Briefly describe Dan's failures in trying 
to conquer his new friend. 

4. What plan finally helped Dan to suc- 
ceed ? 

5. How did Mr. Laurie show that he was 
pleased with Dan's achievement? 

6. Give an antonym of handsome, harshly, 
topmost, patiently, permit. 

7. Mention a synonym of palaver, affec- 
tion, intelligent, confidence, frightened. 

8. Name the page and paragraph in which 
each of the following expressions is found, 
and state the thought of each in a different 
way: — 

(a) Accompany him 

(b) Broken to harness 

(c) Took possession of the boy 

(d) Obeyed the impulse 

(e) Deposited Dan on the ground 

(f) Go through dangers unscathed 

(g) After a few fits of rebellion, Charlie 
submitted. 

In preparing questions such as 6, 7, and 
8, care should be taken to have the various 
groups of words included come in the order 
of the narrative, so that there need be no 
unnecessary difficulty in finding each in the 
text. After some practice in this kind of 
preparation, one careful reading ought to 
enable pupils to answer questions like the 
first five, and one or more hasty additional 
163 



A PARENT'S JOB 



scannings should suffice to answer such 
questions as 7, 8, and 9. While the dictionary 
will be frequently needed in preparing such 
a lesson, careful study of the context will 
often suffice, if the teacher wisely anticipates 
difficulties in her preliminary work. 

Although the terms antonym and synonym 
may seem large for young children, they are 
great time-savers for teachers in finding out 
if pupils understand the vocabulary of the 
text that is being read. They may be used 
to advantage as early as Second A or Third 
B Grade, and should be frequently employed, 
not only in questions assigned with the 
Reading lesson, but also during the Reading 
recitation. 

It requires little imagination to see what 
haphazard, superficial habits of reading are 
likely to be cultivated when children hastily 
glance over their lesson simply to be able 
to say they have read it, or to gain sufficient 
familiarity with the text to make a fair guess, 
if called upon to recite. Aside from culti- 
vating quicker and more accurate thought- 
getting and a far wider vocabulary, the plan 
for Reading study herein suggested will also 
aid greatly in developing the memory faculty, 
— a by-product which in itself is very well 
worth while. Aiming to add a few new 
words to the vocabulary each week, and 
keeping pupils enthusiastic for making such 
164 



FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES 

complete conquests of these additions as to 
be able to use them correctly in conversation 
and writing, may be made a most helpful 
feature of the proposed plan. Young folk 
would think a bicycle of little value if they 
did not learn to ride it. They can likewise 
be made to realize that ability to recognize 
a word is of little account, unless one under- 
stands its meaning and can spell and use 
it correctly in speaking and writing. 

School visitors often find it difficult to 
understand the recitations of pupils because 
of indistinct speech. The cause of this is 
usually that pupils do not open their mouths 
widely enough in speaking. That the mouth 
should be open at least the width of two 
fingers while speaking or singing should be 
daily emphasized from the First Grade until 
the habit is formed. Occasional spirited drill 
in giving the scale in concert with Italian a 
or with oo sound, and exercises in pronounc- 
ing final consonants, both help in overcoming 
this defect. Having pupils stand in front 
of the class and realize that it is not their 
business just to say the words over, but to 
read in such a way as to interest their most 
distant classmates, is likewise helpful in 
getting better voice and better reading. 
Reading aloud at home for a few moments 
each day is an excellent plan, and one that 
is sure to result in marked improvement, if 
165 



A PARENT'S JOB 



some adult member of the family will take 
the time to listen and give suggestions and 
commendation. After leaving school both 
men and women who are ambitious for posi- 
tions in which the good use of voice is neces- 
sary, frequently spend much time and money 
to overcome faulty habits of speech. The 
intelligent co-operation of parents in this 
feature of instruction, during the early years 
of school, will make much of this later prepa- 
ration unnecessary. 

Learning to use the dictionary is a part of 
Intermediate Grade work that is often very 
inadequately done. Far too frequently pupils 
are asked to buy a dictionary, the teacher 
in a more or less cursory way tells how to 
use it, and thereafter takes for granted that 
good use is being made of this valuable book. 
As a matter of fact, however, the dictionary 
contains so much that was not explained that 
pupils do not understand how to consult it 
intelligently, and are likely soon to cease 
trying to do so. This is most unfortunate, 
because rapid and intelligent use of this use- 
ful reference book is one of the very best 
habits that can be formed in school, and 
with reasonable care and perseverance on 
the part of teachers the right start can be 
readily given. 

Before dictionaries are supplied, teachers 
should make sure that every child knows 
166 



FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES 

the alphabet perfectly. Then such lists of 
words as clean, camp, clear, couch, come, 
capture, coarse, cucumber, childish, century, 
and cabbage should be given to pupils to 
arrange in alphabetical order, every letter of 
each word being considered. After facility 
in alphabetical arrangement has been gained, 
the dictionary itself should be introduced. 
Pupils should be taught that if the letter 
index is printed on the edges of the sheets, 
one simply needs to put his thumb on the 
initial letter he is seeking, open the book and 
quickly find the word; or, in case there is no 
outside index, to open the book, hastily run 
the pages through the fingers until the 
desired letter is reached, and then locate 
the word. Pupils should be taught that the 
two words printed in extra large type a little 
above each column of definitions show the 
first and the last words defined on that page. 
Drill in finding specified words should then 
be given, and since pupils take great delight 
in seeing which row of the room can do best 
in this practice, they soon gain facility in it. 
In Primary Grades pupils have become 
familiar with the marks that indicate the 
long and short sounds of vowels, also with 
syllables and accent marks. Now with open 
dictionaries in hand, their attention should 
be directed to the pronunciation indicated 
in the parentheses immediately following the 
167 



A PARENT'S JOB 



words and also to the pronunciation key- 
words at the bottom of each page. The 
latter should be pronounced and studied 
until they are well understood,' after which a 
few lessons in using the dictionary to tell the 
pronunciation of unfamiliar words should 
follow. The fact that when more than one 
pronunciation of a word is given, the first is 
the preferred one, should be explained at this 
time. Pupils will readily understand the 
abbreviation for part of speech, immediately 
following the indicated pronunciation, but 
they should be instructed to pass hastily 
over the information concerning the deriva- 
tion of the word, as this is too difficult at this 
time. 

The fact that several meanings are given 
often puzzles children. They should be told 
that the most common meanings, as a rule, 
are printed first, that it is necessary to use 
judgment in deciding which is the best one 
for the word in question, and why those 
marked " Obsl," " Rare," or " Colloq." should 
not, as a rule, be chosen. Practice should 
then be given in finding the most suitable 
definitions of new words selected from the 
reading and other lessons, pupils being en- 
couraged to consult the teacher concerning 
unfamiliar abbreviations or any other points 
in the dictionary which are not understood. 
With such preliminary information and prac- 
168 



FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES 

tice, pupils will be well started in using the 
dictionary, and with the right encourage- 
ment from parents and teachers they are 
likely to make it a life-long aid to accurate 
scholarship. 

Penmanship 

One of the chief obstacles to forming the 
habit of good penmanship in schools is the 
prevalence of two standards of writing. One, 
the scratch variety, is often allowed in copy- 
ing assigned lessons, notes, first drafts of 
compositions, and various written work. 
The other, which might be called the extra 
effort variety, is reserved for the copy book 
and for written lessons handed in to the 
teacher 

The scratch variety of penmanship first 
develops in the Intermediate Grades, and in- 
creases, term by term, in amount until High 
School is completed, while the use of copy 
books often ends with Sixth or Seventh 
Grade. Since two-thirds of a pupil's hand- 
writing in school is of the scratch kind, the 
fact that the habit of good legible penman- 
ship is not formed is certainly not to be 
wondered at. 

The most important thing with reference 

to Penmanship in the Intermediate Grades, 

then, is for parents and teachers to prevent 

pupils from getting started in the scratch 

169 



A PARENT'S JOB 



writing habit. Parents should insist that 
their children, instead of scribbling lesson 
assignments, the first draft of compositions,, 
arithmetic and other lessons on scraps of 
paper, should write them with reasonable 
care in notebooks which may be inspected 
at home. If a creditable effort is insisted 
upon from the beginning both in school and 
at home, and no careless written work of 
any kind is accepted, a rapid, legible hand 
will in time be formed. The only excuse for 
scratch writing is possible time saved. That 
the extra effort required later to decipher the 
scribble more than counterbalances any time 
gained in the writing will be readily compre- 
hended by children, if their attention is 
called to the fact. 

Besides preventing careless writing, parents 
should note which of the difficulties enumer- 
ated under Penmanship in the preceding 
chapter are not being overcome and join 
with teachers in having these perseveringly 
attacked, one by one, until all are creditably 
conquered. The secret of success is to have 
the pupil know the definite point in which 
he is expected to improve, and to under- 
stand that he will be kept at it until the 
desired improvement is achieved. All asser- 
tions to the contrary notwithstanding, if 
parents are systematic in planning, there is 
opportunity at home for necessary lesson 
170 



FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES 

tasks without in the least infringing upon 
the play or sleeping hours of children. Play 
is naturally more pleasant than work, and if 
children realize that a poor effort of any kind 
must be supplemented by a more effective 
one, they will earnestly try to make their 
first attempts satisfactory so that more time 
may be available for play. 

Spelling 

While it would be fine to be able to 
spell all words correctly, the numerous diffi- 
culties of the English language make it 
impossible for schools to give their graduates 
such an equipment. The next best thing is 
for pupils to be able to spell automatically 
the words commonly used in correspondence, 
and to form the habit, when writing, of con- 
sulting the dictionary for any words of whose 
spelling they are in doubt. In the prepara- 
tion of recently published spelling books, 
business and social correspondence, news- 
papers and magazines have been carefully 
studied to select the most commonly used 
words. These words have been carefully 
considered with reference to the difficulties 
they present to students, and care has been 
taken to repeat the harder ones in the text 
again and again. The advantages of such 
a speller over one that contains a large 
number of infrequently used words, prepared 
171 



A PARENT'S JOB 



with little or no thought about overcoming 
difficulties through frequent repetition, are 
very great. Since the use of a speller by 
children is usually begun in the Intermediate 
Grades, one of the very best ways parents 
can help the work in this period is to urge 
school officials to supply a text-book in this 
subject that will make for economy and 
effectiveness of effort, providing such a one 
is not already in use. 

An important point to be kept in mind 
with reference to this subject is that written 
spelling, not oral, is the essential thing to 
learn. Except in a contest, one rarely has to 
spell orally and might converse by the hour 
without experiencing the slightest embarrass- 
ment at not being able to spell a single word 
used. On this account training in spelling 
should be very largely through writing 
words. To be sure, the practice of spelling 
words aloud to get the order of the letters 
correctly through the ear, suggested in the 
preceding chapter, should be continued, and 
oral spelling matches to stimulate interest 
should also be held. However they should 
not be conducted too frequently, and both 
the date of the match and the words to be 
spelled should be announced some days in 
advance. Great interest may be aroused in 
such contests, if they are skilfully managed. 
Pupils may select the words likely to "cause 
172 



FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES 



difficulty and give special study to them; the 
good spellers will drill the poorer ones, and 
all work together enthusiastically for victory. 

Arithmetic 

If pupils have not mastered the addition 
and multiplication combinations by the time 
they have reached the Intermediate Grades, 
it is ^ difficult for teachers to make up the 
deficiency, as the time required to cover the 
large amount of subject matter in the various 
new studies introduced in these years leaves 
little opportunity for the individual drill and 
careful following-up which are necessary to 
clinch this work with such pupils. Since 
facility and accuracy in the fundamental 
number combinations are essential to success 
in many positions young folk are likely to 
take when they enter business life, it is a real 
misfortune for them to leave school without 
having gained this ability. 

Parents who wish their children to be 
without such a handicap should earnestly 
co-operate with teachers along the lines sug- 
gested under Arithmetic in the last chapter. 
Persevering and enthusiastic interest will 
accomplish wonders at home with one or 
two, when a teacher with a dozen or more 
delinquents will find it quite impossible to 
follow up each individual case until the 
desired end is gained. 

173 



A PARENT'S JOB 



Next to cultivating mastery of the funda- 
mental processes, the most important point 
in the arithmetic work of the Intermediate 
Grades is to get children properly started in 
reasoning. Of course teachers do instruct 
their classes in this important matter, but 
some pupils fail to comprehend directions. 
Without fully understanding the language of 
the problem, they multiply or divide, add or 
subtract, as the spirit moves, and are satisfied 
with any result, no matter how disproportion- 
ate it may be. Frequent repetition of this 
aimless guesswork makes it a habit; the 
child gets the idea that he cannot under- 
stand problems, and so goes on floundering 
all through his mathematical course. 

The following plan for attacking a problem 
should be taught at the outset, and em- 
phasized and re-emphasized until it becomes 
an established habit of work: — 

1. Read the problem carefully, making 
sure that every word is understood and that 
the meaning of the whole is clear. 

2. Thoughtfully answer the following ques- 
tions : — 

(a) What is given? 

(b) What is to be found? Will it be 

larger or smaller than what is 
given ? What operations are 
necessary? 



3. Estimate the answer. 
174 



FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES 

This plan of attack gives a solid basis for 
reasoning and a state of mind conducive to 
clear thinking and reasonable conclusions. 
By following such a method many hopeless 
pupils in Grammar Grade and High School 
mathematics may be prevented. 

Another important point to be kept in 
mind with reference to problem work is that 
reasoning in examples involving small num- 
bers is much easier for children than it is 
when larger numbers are employed. Authors 
of text-books recognize this fact by preceding 
the more difficult " Written Problems " with 
a group of " Oral Exercises " in which small 
numbers are used. For various reasons, these 
Oral Problems often receive far too little 
attention in school; or, if they are duly 
considered, it is difficult for a teacher to 
make absolutely certain that each one of 
forty or more pupils has grasped the point 
of reasoning involved. 

If parents find their children floundering 
in Arithmetic problem work, a very good way 
to help is to get them started on some system- 
atic, logical plan of reasoning, and then to 
confine their attention to problems involving 
small numbers until the new step is under- 
stood, when they can successfully attack 
similar problems involving larger numbers. 

If the best results are to be attained in 
teaching Arithmetic, two other points must 
175 



A PARENT'S JOB 



also be kept in mind. Certain concise rules 
of procedure must be absolutely learned. 
Enough practice on a topic to fix it well in 
mind must be given before a new one is 
introduced. 

It is bad pedagogy to have children learn 
rules that have not been reasonably well 
developed and understood, as was done years 
ago. It is also a waste of time to have rules 
or processes memorized, — the fundamental 
operations, for example, — in which so much 
practice will be given that pupils are sure to 
work them the right way automatically. 
However, in such topics as the various cases 
of multiplication and division of common 
fractions, pointing off in multiplication and 
division of decimal fractions, finding the area 
of a surface, the cubic contents of a solid, the 
number of feet of lumber by board measure, 
and others of a similar character, the rule 
should be learned, and if the text expresses 
it concisely, there is no good reason for not 
requiring the language of the book, after its 
meaning has been made clear. If a process 
has once been thoroughly understood, and 
afterward the verbal description of it has 
been well memorized, no matter how remote 
the time may be when one needs to use the 
principle, the rule will quickly recall the 
method of attack. 

Only a cursory examination of some of the 
176 



FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES 

so-called " spiral plan " Arithmetics is neces- 
sary to find out how impossible it is for chil- 
dren to gain a thorough preparation in the 
essential processes from them, if the topics 
are taught in the order they are printed in 
the text. First a bite of one topic is given 
and then a taste of another, followed by 
various other samplings, all in such close 
rotation that sufficient time is not even 
allowed for mastication, to say nothing of 
digestion and assimilation. The fact is that 
in breaking away from the more or less 
stilted artd over-laden topical plan, some 
authors have attained an opposite extreme, 
which is decidedly less effective even than 
that which it was intended to supplant. If 
such books are being used in a school, the 
text should not be taught in the order in 
which it appears in the book; but, by 
skipping intervening pages, a topic should be 
followed until pupils have had enough drill 
to fix the process well in mind. 

Parents are often discouraged in trying 
to help in the Arithmetic home work because 
children insist that their way of doing ex- 
amples is not like the one the teacher uses, 
and so will not be accepted at school. As 
a matter of fact, the parent's reasoning, 
which of course is the chief thing, is very 
likely correct, the difference usually being 
in the form of statement used. . For instance, 
177 



A PARENT'S JOB 



in a problem involving Division, the parent 
may have set the work down 

125)£564,000($4,512 Ans. 
500 
640 
625 



150 
125 



250 
250 



Now in modern arithmetics, the quotient 
is placed above the dividend, instead of at 
the right of it; and so appears quite different 
to children, as can be readily seen. 

£4,512 Ans. 



125)2564,000 
500 
640 
625 
150 
125 
250 
250 



If division of decimal fractions is involved, 
the parent may follow the rule, " Point off 
as many places in the quotient as the number 
178 



FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES 



of decimal places in the dividend exceeds 
those in the divisor,'' as arithmetics formerly 
taught, and write the work like this, — 

.25)262.525(^250.1 
50 

125 
125 



25 
25 



but since the teacher has instructed pupils 
to put the numbers down and make the 
divisor a whole number by multiplying both 
it and the dividend by 100, and then working 
as follows: — 

.25)262.525 = 
250.1 

25)36,252.5 
50 

125 
125 



25 

25 



children think the parents are wrong; and 
the latter are too annoyed by the suggestion 
to find out how little difference there is 
between the statement required and the one 
which they themselves were taught. 
179 



A PARENT'S JOB 



When parents studied Percentage, they 
perhaps learned to solve all problems under 
that heading by the hard and fast rules of 
determining what terms are given in the 
example and operating according to the pdbs 
scribed formula. For example, in such a 
problem as " Sixty per cent of a man's 
salary is $2,400, how much does he earn a 
year? " the parent would say, " $2,400 is the 
percentage, 60% is the rate, the whole 
salary, or base is to be found. Percentage 
divided by rate equals base. Therefore 
$2,400 divided by 60% = $4,000, or his 
yearly salary." 

The teacher, however, is instructing her 
class that 60%= A; A = $2,400; A = 

? -^P or $400; |£ = $400 X 10, or $4,000, 
6 

the yearly salary. Ans. 

In the above, and in various other in- 
stances that might be cited, the difference in 
method or statement can be grasped in a 
moment, if time is taken to examine the 
text-book used or to consult the teacher. If 
school reports show that pupils are getting 
on satisfactorily in Arithmetic, it is better 
for them not to receive help at home, since 
the skilful teacher will know better how to 
present the work in a way to develop the 
reasoning powers. If, however, pupils are 
floundering — and many are — then parents 
180 



FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES 

should find out in what way the teacher's 
efforts can best be supplemented at home, 
for often children will require more indi- 
vidual help in this subject than a teacher of 
a large class can give. 

Language 

In the Intermediate Grades, oral and 
written composition, literature study, aside 
from the Reading text-book, and Grammar 
are often included in the program under the 
heading, " Language." A book which pre- 
sents ideas of sentences, the parts of a sen- 
tence, and the chief parts of speech in a 
simple way, and also includes pictures, 
fables, and other short stories for composition 
work, poems for study and memorizing, and 
various exercises in punctuation and in drill 
on the correct form of words frequently used 
incorrectly, is studied by pupils. 

Two piifalls often attend the use of such 
books. So many different topics are pre- 
sented that the really vital ones are not 
sufficiently impressed. Teachers frequently 
spend far too much time on the technical 
grammar points included, neglecting features 
that would tend to produce growth in power 
of oral and written expression. 

The question naturally arises, " What are 
the really vital points for Intermediate Grade 
pupils?" From one standpoint, whatever 
181 



A PARENT'S JOB 



will arouse a greater interest in and appreci- 
ation of good literature is vital. From 
another, any exercises that will bring about 
growth in fluency and correctness of oral 
expression are very important; while from 
the standpoint of written composition, im- 
provement in sentence sense and in facility 
and correctness of written expression are the 
essential things. 

The first point cited need give little con- 
cern, for if pupils complete several good texts 
in the Reading class, have progressively 
selected library books which they may draw 
from week to week during the year to read 
at home, and memorize several good poems 
each term, their progress in literature is 
likely to be reasonably satisfactory. Power 
in oral composition, too, ought to be gained, 
providing the recitations in Reading, Geogra- 
phy, and other subjects are properly con- 
ducted; therefore attention here may be 
largely directed to the last point, — namely, 
the development of sentence sense and facility 
and correctness of written expression. 

A critical observer in many schools will 
find far too little difference in the written 
composition work of the Fourth, Fifth and 
Sixth Grades. Pupils do write more on a 
topic and use longer sentences as they ad- 
vance in the grades; but often little growth 
in showing where one sentence ends and a 
182 



FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES 

new one begins is evident. Often, too, the 
gain in appearance and form of the written 
composition is far from what it should be. 

One of the chief causes of the lack of growth 
in sentence sense is that there is too much 
drill in exercises requiring isolated sentences, 
and far too little in combining sentences into 
paragraphs. Technical grammar points are 
learned and illustrated by sample sentences, 
but pupils fail to be impressed with the vital 
connection between the grammar facts and 
correct oral and written expression. When 
pupils are sufficiently advanced to under- 
stand the difference between a group of 
words not a sentence and one that expresses 
complete thought, much use should be made 
of the paragraph in illustrating points of 
Grammar. Combining given sentences into 
paragraphs is of course the first step; but 
after that is understood, brief original para- 
graphs should be used daily to illustrate the 
different points taught. When such lessons 
are accompanied by adequate practice in 
correctly writing unpunctuated paragraphs, 
prepared by the teacher especially to illus- 
trate the topic studied, a progressive gain in 
sentence sense should result. 

Throughout the Language work in the 

Intermediate Grades, the plan of procedure, 

suggested under Written Composition in the 

preceding chapter, should be followed. Im- 

183 



A PARENT'S JOB 



portant new points concerning punctuation 
and form should be thoroughly learned and 
their use made a habit. Freedom and length 
should be encouraged in oral expression, but 
in written composition, the aim should be 
chiefly for brevity and correctness, until 
reasonable power in sentence sense is attained. 
Copying sample paragraphs that are spirited 
in style and well expressed, and afterward 
writing the same from memory, should be 
continued, since much benefit can be gained 
from this exercise. 

All the points under Composition Correct- 
tion mentioned in the last chapter apply with 
equal force in teaching Intermediate Grade 
pupils. Only a very few points of criticism 
should be considered in a composition. The 
fact that there is a mistake in a line should 
be indicated, but pupils should find out for 
themselves what the mistake is. Occasion- 
ally, too, in the Sixth Grade, pupils may be 
asked to correct each other's compositions, 
care being taken to have the best pupils 
exchange with the poorest, and so on through 
the class. 

The practice of having pupils critically 
examine every written paper before handing 
it in to teachers should likewise be con- 
tinued. The rule that slovenly work of any 
kind, either at school or at home, must be 
re-written should be rigidly applied until 
184 



FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES 

careful, intelligent papers become the habit. 
The author well remembers a childhood chum 
who once a week had to write a letter to his 
father, a resident of a distant city. For 
many months the afternoon of that letter- 
writing was one of imprisonment, since the 
grandmother steadfastly refused to accept 
the carelessly written notes which the lad, 
eager to get out with his companions, was 
wont to write. His sympathetic playmates 
pitied him for this seeming misfortune, not 
having the sense at that time to see the 
connection between the grandmother's disci- 
pline and the great improvement in the lad's 
letter-writing and other composition work. 

Geography 

Correct ideas of directions and facility in 
finding locations on maps are essentials 
which should be early acquired in the Inter- 
mediate Grades. Teachers sometimes give 
pupils too much aid in map location work. 
As modern Geographies usually have clear, 
well printed maps, and contain few, if any, 
questions on unimportant places, children of 
ordinary intelligence can readily find the 
required locations and should be made to 
rely on themselves. 

Information about the earth as a whole 
and the facts of mathematical and physical 
geography necessary to an elementary under- 
185 



A PARENT'S JOB 



standing of climate and change of seasons 
are among the most difficult topics studied 
in these grades. " Seven Little Sisters " 
and other books mentioned in the preceding 
chapter have prepared the way for an ac- 
quaintance with the earth as a whole. In 
actual study, a Tellurian Globe on the 
teacher's table, with about half as many 
small globes for children to have on their 
desks as there are pupils in the room, is an 
excellent equipment for this work. With 
these a very good idea can be given of the 
relative position and size of the continents 
and the various bodies of water surrounding 
them. One of these small globes is likewise 
a very useful as well as inexpensive article 
to have at home to arouse children's curiosity 
and help them gain clearer ideas of the earth. 
Observations which children can be led 
to make of the position of the sun in the 
heavens at various times of the year and the 
connection of this with the relative length 
of day and night and the seasons, of the 
relation of the direction of the wind to 
temperature and rainfall, of frost, steam, 
dew, and various forms of moisture, lead up 
to the study of climate, change of seasons, 
and other facts of physical and mathematical 
geography usually included in school texts. 
Such books as " Earth and Sky Every Child 
Should Know " (Rogers), Holden's " Family 
186 



FOURTH, FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADES 

of the Sun," Griffith's " The Stars and Their 
Stories," Ball's " Star Land," Du Chaillu's 
" Land of the Long Night," Kirby's " The 
Sea and Its Wonders " and Ingersoll's 
J Book of the Ocean " are intensely interest- 
ing to many children, and furnish an excellent 
basis for a comprehensive understanding of 
this usually difficult subject. 

Next to actual travel, moving pictures 
and stereopticon slides are the best possible 
means for giving children correct ideas of the 
places and life which geographies describe. 
Through them the pastoral environment of 
the country may be vividly impressed upon 
the minds of city children; the teeming life 
of the city may be realistically shown to the 
youth of the rural districts; oceans may be 
crossed, mountains ascended, and the entire 
realm of nature, life and industry faithfully 
portrayed. 

Such books as Carpenter's Geographical 
Readers, the World and Its People Series 
and Winslow's Geography Readers, which 
are often used for supplementary reading in 
school in connection with the various coun- 
tries studied, add largely to the pupils' fund 
of information. The series of books entitled 
" Little People Everywhere " is very attrac- 
tive in appearance and in literary style, and 
is excellent for children to read at home, as 
the author has especially aimed to present 
187 



A PARENT'S JOB 



information in a way that will interest 
young folk. 

A home scrap-book in Geography prepared 
by children may be made a very helpful aid 
in arousing interest in this subject. At the 
outset about four-tenths of the pages should 
be set aside for the United States and divided 
among the various groups of states. About 
one-tenth should be given to the rest of 
North America, two-tenths to Europe, and 
one-tenth each to Asia, Africa and Australia 
and the Islands of the Pacific. If the child 
is encouraged to cut out any pictures or 
interesting items he sees in papers or maga- 
zines and paste them in the part of the scrap- 
book allotted the country referred to therein, 
he will have in time prepared a book which 
will contain much valuable information 
and will be a source of much interest to him. 

The recitation in Geography may be made 
most useful in developing power in oral 
expression, if topical recitation is largely 
insisted upon by teachers. When hearing 
children recite the geography lesson at home, 
parents may help to cultivate this power by 
encouraging them to tell all about a topic 
in one recitation instead of drawing out the 
information by numerous questions. 



188 



CHAPTER X 

Co-operation in Seventh and Eighth 
Grades and First Year High School 

SINCE the so-called common branches, 
Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Geogra- 
phy, and Spelling, which pupils have 
been studying so long a time, are usually 
completed in the Seventh and Eighth years, 
these grades constitute a period somewhat 
different from the six which have preceded. 
They are a time of rounding out informa- 
tion, of clarifying and clinching various 
points and facts that may have been for- 
gotten, or may not have been fully under- 
stood. These grades are also a period of 
higher tension, since teachers in anticipation 
of final examinations are usually more 
definite in instruction and more exacting in 
requirements than their colleagues of the 
preceding grades; while pupils are likewise 
more industrious and careful in their prepa- 
ration, for to everybody and to everybody's 
father and mother, failure to graduate from 
Grammar School would be most regrettable. 
This period is likewise one of longer and 
more difficult lessons, in the preparation of 
which pupils have to rely upon their own 
189 



A PARENTS JOB 



efforts more than in preceding grades; yet 
the fact that self-reliance is altogether too 
little cultivated during these years is one of 
the chief faults of instruction. 

Reading 

If the reading book is not given up entirely 
in the Seventh Grade, it is often more or less 
side-tracked for supplementary Geography 
and United States History texts. This 
naturally follows, since teachers have a large 
amount of subject matter to cover in these 
subjects, and reading the texts is the quickest 
and easiest way to accomplish that result. 
This practice is unfortunate, because read- 
ing-book selections are usually of higher 
literary value than geography and history 
texts. It is also regrettable for the reason 
that getting information before the class is 
often the chief, if not the only, aim of the 
teacher. A better plan is to use reading 
books in school, and have pupils read the 
supplemental geography and history texts 
at home, requiring an oral account of the 
home reading during the recitation in 
the subject at school. 

In the Eighth Grade, reading is largely 
confined to such prose texts as Sharpe's " A 
Watcher in the Woods," Warner's " In the 
Wilderness," Burroughs' " Birds and Bees," 
and Hawthorne's " Tanglewood Tales "; in 
190 



SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES 

poetry, to Longfellow's " Courtship of Miles 
Standish " or " Evangeline " or Scott's 
" Marmion " or " Lady of the Lake." In 
First Year High School, Scott's " Ivanhoe," 
Stevenson's " Treasure Island," and simi- 
lar stories furnish the basic prose, while 
Lowell's " Vision of Sir Launfal," Coleridge's 
" Ancient Mariner," Homer's " Iliad " or 
" Odyssey," and Shakespeare's " As You 
Like It " or " Midsummer Night's Dream " 
are among the most frequently studied poems 
and plays. 

The text of these selections is usually 
critically read and discussed, and genuine 
interest in the essay, story, or play is often 
aroused. The life and personality of the 
various authors studied are also frequently 
considered with much spirit and enthusiasm. 

In connection with the literature study in 
these years, however, there are often three 
weak points, which parents might do much 
at home to strengthen. Believing that the 
final examination is likely to require the 
narration of an incident, the characteriza- 
tion of a person, or the description of some 
scene from the text, teachers want their 
pupils to become thoroughly acquainted 
with the entire story, poem, or play, and so 
have it read aloud in class. Since there is 
some loss of time in having different pupils 
read, or because many may read more or 
191 



A PARENT'S JOB 



less poorly, it happens that the reading is 
largely or entirely done by the teacher and 
the students get little practice in reading 
aloud. Another great loss is that so much 
time is occupied in reading the entire selec- 
tion in school that little opportunity is left 
to interest a class in other works by the 
same author. It is a much better plan to 
require pupils to read many chapters or 
parts of chapters at home, and hold them 
strictly accountable for the content of the 
text covered in this way; yet the former 
method is perhaps more widely used. 

An excellent offset for such losses, and a 
most helpful and enjoyable practice, regard- 
less of school instruction, is to have a Home 
Reading Club, composed of Father, Mother, 
and the children of the family who are old 
enough to be interested. Such a club should 
meet as often as possible, and each member 
should take his turn at reading aloud and 
try his best to interest the others. Thus 
many good books may be completed and 
some very happy hours added to the home 
recollections. 

For example, the study of " Evangeline " 
in school may be supplemented at home 
with the best of Longfellow's shorter poems 
and with " Hiawatha " and " The Courtship 
of Miles Standish " as well. The glimpse of 
Scott's historic panorama afforded by the 
192 



SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES 

study of " Ivanhoe " in school may be en- 
larged through an acquaintance with " The 
Talisman," " Kenilworth," "The Heart 
of Midlothian," " Quentin Durward," and 
others of that great romancer's master- 
pieces. The many-sidedness of Lowell may 
be illustrated by " The Fable for Critics," 
"Biglow Papers," "The Present Crisis," 
" The First Snow-Fall," and the " Com- 
memoration Ode," during the term that 
" The Vision of Sir Launfal " is being studied 
in the classroom. " As You Like It " at 
school paves the way for " The Merchant of 
Venice," "Hamlet," "Julius Caesar," and 
numerous other famous plays by the master 
dramatist, while similar attractive vistas 
will be readily unfolded by other selections. 
When business or social engagements keep 
parents from participating, the younger 
members should read silently by themselves, 
and at the next session of the circle give an 
oral account of the chapters thus completed. 
What if newspaper reading does have to 
be abridged! What if the club must be 
slighted, the automobile allowed an occasional 
rest, the " Bridge " or " Cribbage " omitted, 
or the " Movies " relegated to an occasional 
visit! Any one of these curtailments will 
prove a benefit rather than a sacrifice to 
parents. And even if this should not be the 
case, what tremendous returns such self- 
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A PARENT'S JOB 



denial may bring in the consciousness of 
making home more attractive and of increas- 
ing parental influence on the budding minds 
and characters of the household! 

Parents who have provided their children 
with food, clothing, shelter, and instruction 
commensurate with their station in life, and 
have likewise accustomed them to mingle 
with other people in a reasonably decorous 
manner, certainly have good reason for 
feeling that their obligation to their offspring 
has been creditably filled. If, in addition 
to this, they have likewise taken time to be 
companions of their children, personally con- 
ducting them through the fascinating realms 
of nature and bookland and tactfully entering 
into both their tasks and their pleasures, 
how much greater satisfaction they may well 
feel! Some years ago such family circles, 
with games as well as books for diversion, 
were more common. The Question Game, 
Logomachy, Anagrams, Geography, History, 
and Author Games, Dominoes, Checkers, 
" Jenkins Up," Going to Jerusalem, and even 
Pinning the Tail on the Donkey, are all so 
much more fun when Father and Mother take 
part. Surely Mothers' Clubs and other or- 
ganizations interested in improving the con- 
dition of children should most heartily 
recommend the Home Reading and Game 
Circle. 

194 



SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES 



Penmanship 

The habit of free, legible penmanship 
should be well established by the time chil- 
dren reach the Seventh Grade, but un- 
fortunately this is often not the case. In 
such instances the cause must be found and 
remedied. Frequently it may be traced to 
long-continued scratch writing, and in other 
instances incorrect pen-holding or lack of 
freedom in using the arm may be the cause. 

Whatever the defects may be, the pupil's 
attention must be directed to them one at a 
time, and his effort to conquer each in turn 
must be persistent. Penmanship is one sub- 
ject in which " firing at the mark generally " 
brings little result. The faults must be 
definitely pointed out and the method of 
improvement clearly understood. A pupil 
may be daily told that his writing is dis- 
creditable and that he ought to improve it, yet 
the slightest improvement will not result, even 
though he may practice long and regularly. 
On the other hand, if the teacher definitely 
calls attention to the incorrect pen-holding, 
constricted arm movement, poor letter forms, 
or whatever the fault may be, and at the 
same time clearly illustrates the correct way, 
pupils who perseveringly try will eventually 
make satisfactory improvement. Occasional 
tests, considering only the point or points 
195 



A PARENT'S JOB 



that particular effort is being made to over- 
come, will help, especially if the papers are 
taken home for the inspection and approval 
of parents. The process is necessarily slow, 
since the incorrect habit has become so 
firmly established; but under a skilful 
teacher even the most hopeless cases will 
become good writers. 

There is nothing one has to write more 
often than his own name. It is therefore 
important that pupils should early decide 
upon how much of the given names shall be 
included in the signature, and frequently 
practice writing it in a creditable manner. 
In banking business it is important for 
depositors to have a characteristic signature 
that can be readily recognized. This fact 
should be explained to young folk as early 
as the Seventh Grade, so that the right kind 
of signature may soon become a habit. 

Since unruled paper is now so generally 
used, it is important that drill in writing on 
paper without lines should be given in school, 
and if this kind is not available, practice in 
writing across the lines of ruled paper should 
be given. 

It sometimes happens that young people 
who are starting to work in mercantile 
positions are handicapped by the habit of 
making poor figures. Drill on correct figure 
forms, as well as on the letters, should be 
196 



SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES 

given throughout the grades. Since so many 
pupils complete their school education with 
the eight or ninth year, it is especially im- 
portant that Grammar Grade teachers should 
be most careful to see that individual pupils 
correct any bad habits they may have 
formed in making figures. 

Spelling 

If a pupil is still very inaccurate in Spelling 
after reaching the Grammar Grades, he need 
not necessarily be considered a hopeless 
case for whom marked improvement is quite 
impossible. Indeed his very greatest trouble 
is often loss of confidence and the feeling 
that there is no use in trying. 

Teachers should first carefully diagnose 
the case to see whether the inability is due 
to weakness in eye or ear perception or 
possibly to both. After the spelling difficulty 
has been determined and a clear explanation 
of it made to both pupil and parents, all 
should earnestly co-operate to overcome the 
defect. If this plan is intelligently followed, 
the pupil's confidence will in time be restored, 
and improvement will result. Probably 
gain in eye and ear perception will not come 
as readily as it might have, if some wise 
teacher had earnestly and intelligently sought 
to conquer the difficulty earlier in the grades; 
197 



A PARENTS JOB 



but persistent effort will usually bring the 
desired results. 

Practically all of the suggestions on spell- 
ing made in the chapter on Primary Grade 
work apply equally well in this period. It 
is also important not to waste time either 
in studying or in using in sentences words 
which children can already spell and of which 
they know the meaning, or words for 
which they are likely to have very little use. 
Since it will be some time before pupils who 
are very backward in spelling will be able 
to do as well as the average of a class, it is 
an excellent plan to have them competing 
with their own records. As compared with 
others their spelling may be very poor; but 
in contrast with their own previous daily 
records, a remarkable gain may be shown. 
Like the enthusiastic golfer, they may be 
spurred to renewed endeavor by this evi- 
dence of daily improvement. 



Arithmetic 

Upon reaching the Seventh Grade the 
great majority of a class should be able to 
add, subtract, multiply, and divide rapidly 
without groping or hesitation and with 
reasonable accuracy. However, the large 
amount of time more or less wasted in many 
schools in concretely illustrating the combi- 
198 



SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES 

nations, in playing arithmetic games, and in 
trying to have pupils reason examples be- 
yond their capacity, has left altogether too 
little opportunity for the fundamental drill 
in computation which is absolutely essential 
in the early years. It follows as a natural 
consequence that many pupils of the higher 
grades not only are grossly inaccurate in the 
fundamental operations, but also grope and 
hesitate for answers which should come like 
a flash. 

Now there would be a redeeming element 
in the situation, if the claim could be made 
that the concrete illustration and reasoning 
work piled up in the first four years of school 
produced better reasoners in the succeeding 
grades. It must be admitted, however, that 
the opposite effect is noted, nor is the cause 
difficult to trace. Children are taught to 
reason problems beyond their capacity which, 
a year or two later, might be easily mastered. 
They do often succeed in repeating the re- 
quired statements glibly, thus pleasing their 
teachers with apparently good results. Never- 
theless the little folk have in many cases 
only remembered well what their instructors 
have very clearly and perhaps frequently 
presented to them. Given another problem, 
based on exactly the same principle but with 
the wording slightly changed, and many 
children will be entirely at sea. Instead of 
199 



A PARENT'S JOB 



learning to reason, they have simply been 
memorizing the teacher's reasoning. 

With a similar status in reasoning work in 
several successive grades, it is no wonder 
that some pupils on reaching the Seventh 
Grade, are fully convinced that they can 
never do problems, and so keep on guessing 
and floundering in a most helpless way if 
new examples happen to present the least 
unfamiliar aspect. Too often this state of 
mind is never reformed. Mathematically 
speaking, the pupil fails ever to get on the 
track, but continues to bump uncomfortably 
and disconsolately over the ties through the 
entire journey. Somehow, after several 
trials perhaps, the final examination in 
Arithmetic is passed. Then the fearsome 
and sometimes often retraced road through 
Algebra and Geometry is accomplished; and 
later, perchance, the young woman emerges 
from a Normal or Training School with a 
diploma entitling her to conduct unsuspecting 
youth through the tortuous paths of reason- 
ing as she has traversed them. And she does 
it. 

Nevertheless, if a child entering the 
Seventh Grade is found to be slow and in- 
accurate in computation, or backward and 
floundering in reasoning, he should not 
necessarily be given up as a hopeless case. 
For the former defect, individual drill on the 
200 



SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES 

forty-five combinations, as suggested in the 
chapter on Primary Grades, is the best 
remedy. Attaining proficiency will be a far 
harder and longer process than it would have 
been, had a similar determined effort been 
made four or five years earlier, but persever- 
ance will accomplish the desired end in many 
cases, even at this late period. 

In the matter of improving the reasoning, 
" Right about! Face! " is likewise the only 
course. The plan for attacking new prob- 
lems, outlined under Intermediate Grades, 
or something similar, must be adopted. The 
feeling that one simply can not learn Arith- 
metic — a notion, by the way, often too little 
discouraged both in school and at home — 
must be eradicated. To a certain degree, 
learning to reason problems is like learning 
to ride a bicycle. As long as the rider is 
fearful of losing his balance, down the wheel 
will plunge to right or left the moment the 
instructor lets go his hold. But when con- 
sciousness dawns upon the rider that if he 
sits erect and keeps the pedals moving, his 
equilibrium will be maintained, he glides 
like a bird through the air, wondering how 
he ever could have been so awkward and 
afraid. So in mathematical problems, when 
pupils cease to be confused, and instead of 
thoughtlessly guessing at the process, read 
the examples over carefully to determine 
201 



A PARENT'S JOB 



exactly what is wanted before performing 
any operations, they, too, will wonder why 
problems that are so easy, ever seemed 
puzzling and impossible. 

Now in teaching higher grade pupils who 
are especially backward in Arithmetic, plac- 
ing particularly strong emphasis upon certain 
points helps to make the subject much 
simpler and clearer to pupils. 

One of the first of these is the fact that the 
expression of a fraction is the same as an 
example in Division, the numerator corre- 
sponding to the dividend and the denominator 
to the divisor; and that the necessity for the 
fractional expression arises when the dividend 
is smaller than the divisor or can not contain 
it without a remainder. The differences 
and similarities of common and decimal 
fractions, their equivalency and interchange- 
ability, and also the differences between 
whole number and decimal fraction notation, 
constitute a second feature most important 
to make clear. 

Another point which pupils often fail to 
grasp is the exact difference between linear, 
square, and cubic measures and the practical 
uses of each. They learn the tables and work 
examples under each; but in a few weeks, 
more or less, the whole is likely to be a 
medley of numbers and dimensions, v^ith 
visions of carpet bought by the square 
202 



SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES 

yard and paper put on by the cubic foot, 
because the simple, elementary differ- 
ences were not clearly understood in the 
beginning. 

The close relation of percentage to com- 
mon and decimal fractions, and the similarity 
of the various topics under percentage to 
examples in fractions, is perhaps one of the 
points most essential of all to comprehend. 
To feel that something brand new is being 
undertaken every time a succeeding topic is 
taken up, makes a study far harder for pupils 
than it otherwise would be. When the close 
relation between the old and the new is 
clearly developed, and children actually 
sense the fact that though the terms of the 
new topic are unfamiliar, the principle in- 
volved and the mode of procedure are already 
well understood, the subject is much simpli- 
fied. 

For this reason, it is much simpler and 
better to treat the problems under the vari- 
ous headings of Percentage and Its Applica- 
tions as examples in fractions, changing the 
rate per cent, to common fractional form 
whenever time will be saved thereby, than 
to apply specific formulae, such as " Per- 
centage divided by base equals rate." In- 
deed, because of the numerous topics in 
Percentage, gaining clear ideas as to their 
close relation with fractions, may alone 
203 



A PARENT'S JOB 



change a pupil backward in Arithmetic to 
one of average ability. 

It is also helpful to keep in mind the fact 
that there are likewise some points in Arith- 
metic that it is well to memorize thoroughly at 
the outset. The number of figures in each 
of the orders of units to hundred-millions 
in whole numbers, and hundred-millionths in 
decimals, is one of the very first of these. How 
many pupils might have been saved wobbling 
and uncertainty in writing numbers through- 
out the grades, if, by a little stiff memorizing 
in the beginning, the fact that there are seven 
figures in millions and six in millionths, 
together with similar information in regard 
to the other orders of units, had been so well 
fastened in mind at the start that the figures 
would come automatically from the pencil 
the second the number required to be ex- 
pressed is seen or heard. 

Another point that children in higher 
grades seem not to have learned well, is the 
fact that Cancellation can not be employed 
when some of the different numbers above 
and below the line have plus or minus signs 
between them, instead of multiplication. 
This point can be easily impressed and should 
be at the right time. 

The simple rules of multiplication and 
division of fractions constitute a third ap- 
parently much neglected heading. Teachers 
204 



SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES 

of Manual Training are frequently astounded 
at the ignorance boys who have completed 
Arithmetic show in estimating such simple 
parts of a measurement as -|, 4, -§- and J 
— sometimes even thinking that these 
pupils could never have been taught these 
operations. Undoubtedly the topics were 
taught them, but the failure resulted from 
not requiring a thorough memorizing of the 
rules and sufficient application of the same. 
The decimal equivalents of -|j i> t> t? 

312341513571 1 3 

T> T> T> ~5j Tj T> IT? T? ~W> Yi y> "9> TTT> TIT? 

T V, and 3V should be memorized so thor- 
oughly that pupils can change from one 
to the other automatically, when time will 
be saved by so doing. 

Knowing the squares and cubes of numbers 
from 1 to 12 and the square roots and cube 
roots of their second and third powers is 
useful information that should be better 
memorized than it is by many classes. 

Aside from lack of accuracy and rapidity 
in computation and inability to make a 
business-like attack on a problem involving 
reasoning, the points herein suggested as 
worthy of clearer understanding or more 
thorough memorizing are the chief weak- 
nesses which the author encountered during 
several years of teaching Business Arith- 
metic and Algebra in a city Evening High 
School. In trying to help pupils who are 
205 



A PARENT'S JOB 



backward in Arithmetic, parents and teachers 
will certainly find these points well worth 
their careful attention. 

Language and Composition 

In some schools considerable technical 
grammar is taught prior to the Seventh 
Year, but, not being fully comprehended by 
pupils, most of this information is soon for- 
gotten. This need give teachers and parents 
little concern, providing pupils, upon enter- 
ing the Seventh Grade, have a fair under- 
standing of the various kinds of simple 
sentences and of easy compound sentences, 
together with the ability to apply that 
knowledge readily in oral and written com- 
position. If children at this period can also 
rapidly and accurately pick out the principal 
words (simple subject and simple predicate) 
and the modifying words of such sentences, 
a good foundation has been laid for the 
language and composition work to follow. 

Too much technical grammar is often 
taught in the Seventh and Eighth Grades, 
but not because anyone has discovered it to 
be of especial help in developing good oral 
or: written English. On the contrary, very 
slight benefit to either oral or written expres- 
sion results from the study of the numerous 
subdivisions of parts of speech and various 
other topics that consume so much valuable 
206 



SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES 

time, for such improvement must largely- 
come from frequent critical practice in speak- 
ing and writing. 

Nevertheless the topics cited as of little 
practical value continue to be subject matter 
which is sure to receive liberal attention in 
final examinations, and hence must be well 
crammed. As long as this anomaly continues, 
teachers should strive to have the subject 
matter presented well learned, as a matter of 
mental discipline. At the same time, if 
progress in oral and written language is to 
ensue, instructors should manage, early in 
the Seventh Grade, to teach the use of 
phrases and clauses as modifiers in place of 
a word, and much practice should be given 
in substituting a phrase or a clause for a word, 
and vice versa. During this work great care 
should be taken to train both the eye and 
the ear to sense the correct place for ending 
a sentence and beginning a new one, since 
without such pains even pupils who have 
shown very good sentence sense in preceding 
grades are likely to become careless and 
inaccurate in this respect. 

At this point it is excellent practice to 
copy from a book good paragraphs con- 
taining various types of subordinate clauses 
and then try to write the whole paragraph 
from memory, later comparing the result 
with the text in the book. 
207 



A PARENT'S JOB 



Writing unpunctuated paragraphs, con- 
taining subordinate clauses, and putting in 
the capital letters and punctuation marks 
necessary to make good sense, is a most 
excellent second step in this work and one 
that should be much employed. 

After a fair degree of accuracy as to sen- 
tence sense in paragraphs containing com- 
plex sentences has been cultivated, pupils 
should be trained in organizing thought and 
in expressing it in an orderly, logical, co- 
herent and pleasing manner. Again sample 
discourse should be studied; but this time 
for the purpose of seeing how the author has 
expressed his thought. Narration, being 
the easiest type of composition, should be 
undertaken first. Pupils should be led to 
note the topic sentence and what it contains, 
to observe that events are written in the order 
of their occurrence and each one completed 
before the next is taken up; to see that the 
paragraph has been made coherent by using 
words that bind the thoughts together, and 
that the style of expression is more pleasing 
because of the variety of ways that different 
sentences are begun and closed. 

Then an outline, which the author might 
have used, should be constructed on the 
blackboard by the teacher and class together; 
and with this as a basis the entire selection 
should be written from memory and. the 
208 



SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES 

result compared with the text in the book. 
Original work with similar topics should 
then be tried, each pupil making his own 
outline. For instance, if the original sub- 
ject was " The Boyhood of Washington," 
the Boyhood of Lincoln might be undertaken; 
if the sample text was " The Adventure of 
a Rabbit," The Gray Squirrel's Adventure, 
The Experience of a Lost Dog, or something 
similar could be advantageously used. 

After considerable practice of this kind 
has been carefully conducted, pupils should 
be ready for original work in narration on 
ordinary subjects with which they may 
be made familiar. Of course care should be 
taken to chose interesting subjects and to 
get the thought well organized before written 
composition work is begun. 

When some facility has been gained in 
independent narration, description and ex- 
position should be considered, in turn, in a 
similar way. Care should be taken to use 
the best possible models for study, and to 
proceed from brief to longer examples in 
the various selections studied under each 
type. 

The best way for children to learn to do 
many things in everyday life is to watch 
others and imitate them, since it is the 
simplest and most natural method. For a 
similar reason, the best way for young folk 
209 



A PARENT'S JOB 



to acquire facility and accuracy in the use 
of English is to study good models, intelli- 
gently observe how clearness, order, co- 
herence, and pleasing style were gained by 
the authors, and then try their best to imitate 
these good examples, aiming to develop 
power in original and independent work after 
facility in the easier type of composition has 
been acquired. 

To spend hours each week in discussing 
isolated sentences containing various gram- 
matical constructions, and then perhaps 
once a month, more or less, to write an essay 
with no especial aim in view, and often with- 
out the slightest connection between the 
grammatical study and the written expres- 
sion being shown, may produce martinets at 
reciting Grammar. That this is a most 
wasteful method for cultivating power in 
using good oral and written English, is daily 
demonstrated in far too many schools. 

In addition to the suggestions already 
made, the following will be found helpful 
in dealing with children who are backward in 
English composition. 

Usually have oral expression precede the 
written. Also conduct regular periods in 
oral composition, in which pupils previously 
designated speak as fluently as possible on 
topics that were assigned some days before. 
Careful, definite preparation for these red- 
210 



SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES 

tations should be made by pupils. They 
should try to speak accurately and con- 
nectedly on the subject, finishing one point 
of the topic before taking up the next. 
Intelligent criticism of both praiseworthy 
and censurable points along the lines sug- 
gested should follow each recitation. A class 
record of this oral work should be kept, and 
due credit on the year's work in English 
should be allowed. 

Pupils should be impressed with the fact 
that words are the material with which 
language is built, and that in oral and written 
expression, as in other structures, much 
depends upon good judgment in selecting 
that which is strongest and most beautiful; 
that usually the shorter common word is 
preferable to the longer and more unusual 
one expressing the same idea; that repetition 
of words and of sounds near together, except 
for the sake of emphasis, is to be avoided; 
and that any succession of words hard to 
enunciate should not be employed. 

Pupils should also fully realize that in 
language expression, as in other things, 
variety is spice. For this reason, long sen- 
tences should be mingled with short ones, 
occasional questions and exclamations with 
statements; in some the subject and predi- 
cate should appear in regular order, while in 
others a prepositional or a participial phrase 
211 



A PARENT'S JOB 



or a subordinate clause should begin the 
expression. The fact that rapidity of action 
is expressed through successive short sen- 
tences can also be readily understood. 

In a preceding chapter, it was recom- 
mended that pupils always critically read 
over what they have written before con- 
sidering the work finished. That habit 
should be continued, together with the 
additional practice of reading the composition 
aloud to satisfy oneself that the style flows 
smoothly and is pleasing to the ear. 

In their reading of library books, pupils 
should also be urged to note carefully para- 
graphs that are especially pleasing to them, 
and to try to discover by what use of sen- 
tences and words the author has achieved a 
result so satisfying. Such observations, when 
skilfully initiated and tactfully encouraged 
by teachers and parents, are a most practical 
stimulus. They help to dissociate com- 
position writing from the distasteful garb 
in which children are so wont to clothe it, 
and cause them to regard the subject as an 
art, — not a forbidding one, attainable only 
through the medium of diagrams and con- 
jugations, but delightful, alluring, and fully 
open to all who will read the interesting 
work of the masters of literature and note 
intelligently how they have made words and 
sentences convey their thought. 
212 



SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES 

Geography 

Since the study of Geography is now com- 
pleted in many schools in the Sixth or Seventh 
Grade, the subject will require little attention 
in this chapter. Thorough review, and then 
much individual drill on the parts in which 
pupils are found weakest, is the best course 
with children who have fallen behind their 
class in this study. As was suggested in the 
preceding chapter, interesting Geographical 
Readers may be made very useful in this 
work. A series in which the subject matter 
is very concisely expressed is the best to use 
with this type of pupil. 

The Transition from Elementary School 
to High School 

Few parents realize how great the change 
from Elementary to High School work is for 
children. In the first place, Algebra, Latin, 
German or French, and Botany or Zoology, 
which are among the subjects usually pur- 
sued in first year High School, are quite 
different from the old familiar studies of the 
Grammar Grades. If the introduction to 
these is wise and tactful, the interest of pupils 
is soon aroused and half of the battle is won. 
If, however, the approach to the new work 
is poorly paved, the process of falling be- 
hind may be swift and sure. 
213 



A PARENT'S JOB 



The plan of recitation is another very 
material difference. In most elementary 
schools Eighth Grade pupils have the same 
teacher in all subjects, being under her super- 
vision both for study and recitation. The 
skilful instructor soon becomes very well 
acquainted with each individual, under- 
stands his strength and weakness, and 
applies the right stimulus at just the right 
time to secure the best results. If the home- 
work assigned is not satisfactorily prepared, 
she can keep the pupil after school until it 
is done. In case a child is copying lessons 
from others, the fraud is readily discovered 
and the culprit sternly made to paddle his 
own canoe. Not only daily, but hourly, the 
teacher exercises the particular influence and 
pressure best calculated to keep up the right 
esprit de corps. Since it is the highest grade, 
the class is one of the most important of the 
school and hence has one of the most efficient 
teachers. 

In High School, pupils usually have a 
different instructor for each study. As the 
most recently appointed teachers are often 
assigned to the first year's work, the in- 
structors are likely to be the least experi- 
enced of the entire faculty. With three or 
more separate groups of pupils, it is neces- 
sarily a comparatively long time before a 
teacher becomes well acquainted with any 
214 



SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADES 

but the exceptionally bright or very dull 
ones, nor is it possible for her to call on them 
all enough in recitation periods to keep well 
in touch with their lesson preparation. As a 
matter of habit, most pupils start high school 
work with good intentions. Seeing that 
others, who make little or no preparation, 
seem to escape difficulty, some begin to 
slight their work. Gradually they slip 
farther and farther away from their former 
standards of preparation, imagining that 
because no one seems to be personally follow- 
ing them up, all will go well, until the third 
or fourth monthly review finds them either 
very disinterested pupils or so hopelessly 
behind that dropping out of school is the 
natural consequence. 

It must also be admitted that the atmos- 
phere of many high schools tends to turn 
the minds of pupils from thorough prepara- 
tion. There is too much desire to enjoy 
society and too little to excel in study; too 
much " Hurrah Boys ! " and shouting for the 
teams and too little settling down to business 
and keeping minds on the work in hand. 

The best remedy for this condition is to 
have Eighth Grade teachers make their 
pupils more self-reliant by giving them less 
personal help and following-up. Then if 
High School principals will so arrange that 
at least one of the teachers a pupil has makes 
215 



A PARENT'S JOB 



it her business to become well acquainted 
with him and to keep well in touch with the 
kind of preparation he is making for his 
various studies, much of the difficulty de- 
scribed can be obviated. 

Even though the latter status may exist 
in a school system, it is nevertheless impor- 
tant for fathers and mothers to be very 
watchful of their children during this tran- 
sition period. Besides the conditions men- 
tioned, the age of pupils and the greater 
freedom of the entire High School environ- 
ment make it most essential that the guiding 
minds of parents keep in especially close and 
sympathetic touch with their children during 
this particular year. 



216 



CHAPTER XI 

National Preparedness 

THE present World War has made 
the question of National Prepared- 
ness overshadow all others. How 
the very largest number of laborers and 
soldiers may be marshalled most advan- 
tageously; in what way the farms and 
manufactories may be made to produce their 
largest possible output; and how the food 
supply may be most wisely and justly con- 
served, are among the subjects which are 
absorbing the minds of those who are now 
responsible for our national honor and 
efficiency. 

Since the home is the unit of the nation 
and children are the most valuable asset of 
the home, it follows that the more efficient 
the training they receive, the better will 
be the preparedness of the family and likewise 
of the nation. From a patriotic duty then, 
as well as from a personal one, parents should 
take intelligent interest in the education of 
their children and do all they can to make it 
as efficient as possible. In doing this they 
will need to put aside several educational 
fallacies which are more or less common. 
217 



A PARENT'S JOB 



One of these is that it is practically useless 
for a child, especially a boy, to study Draw-: 
ing, unless he is destined to become an artist. 
In their estimation, the portrait and land- 
scape constitute the only field in which skill 
with pencil can bring material return — a 
field, by the way, which is naturally regarded 
as precarious. Architecture, designing, news^ 
paper and book illustrating, engraving, and 
basic working drawings in the various trades, 
all of which make this subject one of the 
most practical in the school curriculum, have 
somehow escaped their observation. Nor 
has the utilitarian or the aesthetic benefit of 
training the eye to recognize harmony and 
beauty in combinations of colors appealed 
to their prosaic imaginations. It is indeed 
fortunate that both the commercial and the 
aesthetic value of training in Drawing are 
becoming more widely recognized. 

Another notion equally fallacious is that 
music-reading is a fad which should not be 
allowed to trespass on the realm of the sacred 
Three R's. They who have this idea forget 
that almost, every person will, or at least 
should, sing on numerous times and occa- 
sions in life, and that it is indeed pathetic that 
anyone should have to participate in such a 
splendid universal diversion by guesswork, 
when efficient instruction in: the elementary 
schools may establish a good working basis 
218 



NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS 

for accuracy. Furthermore, even from the 
purely- material standpoint, the study of 
music in public schools is well worth while. 
Such instruction generates confidence, which 
in turn begets love for and facility in the art 
itself. There are few more direct avenues 
to good society than ability to enjoy and to 
participate in music, and certainly few more 
readily traceable roads to business success 
than those which start from social friendship 
and acquaintance. 

Magnifying the utility of arithmetic is a 
third fallacy which is unquestionably very 
common. Parents with this delusion may 
possibly regret that John's or Mary's stand- 
ing in various studies is poor, but as long as 
the mark in arithmetic is fairly good, the 
child's future career, in their opinion, is 
reasonably safe. Such folk think that the 
study of this subject cultivates facility which 
somehow will prove a strong factor in getting 
and holding a job and in developing reason- 
ing power that is a sure forerunner of business 
acumen and ability. 

Now rapidity and accuracy in the funda- 
mental operations with whole numbers and 
fractions doubtless will help in holding a 
position and in gaining promotion therein. 
Other individual topics of Arithmetic are 
especially useful in special businesses, but 
facility in any one of these can be readily 
219 



A PARENT'S JOB 



acquired if occasion demands. In securing 
a position, however, ability to write a good 
letter or to converse with a prospective em- 
ployer in a frank, courteous, and pleasing 
manner is the point which counts most. 
As far as developing reasoning power is con- 
cerned, the superiority of arithmetic over 
other studies is largely traditional. Reading, 
history, geography, or language, if properly 
taught, may prove equally efficacious. The 
development of this power in all subjects 
depends largely upon how much pupils are 
made to think for themselves. 

Minimizing the value of language-study 
and concluding that unless a child is am- 
bitious to become a minister or a lawyer, it 
is needless for him to learn to speak well; 
and that composition writing is more or less 
wasted effort, providing book or magazine 
writing is not the especial goal, is another 
misconception more or less widely cherished. 
While in estimating the value of various 
studies, comparisons are needless, and abso- 
lute values difficult to fix, both from the 
material and aesthetic sides there is probably 
no more beneficial subject in the elementary 
school curriculum than language and com- 
position. Recognizing this fact, parents 
should encourage their children to excel in 
this study, rather than help to excuse them 
from making honest effort in it. 
220 



NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS 

The idea that a thirst for reading is a sure 
sign of mental power and future professional 
greatness is still another fallacy which should 
be driven from the lofty pedestal it has so 
long occupied. Almost with bated breath, 
parents will describe how William or Sally 
persists in reading to the entire exclusion 
of work and play; visions of Walter Scott, 
Abraham Lincoln, and other famous souls 
of the past very plainly rise up in their 
imaginations as the future of the loved off- 
spring is discussed. The character of the 
books he likes to read, how much he re- 
members of them, the condition of his eyes 
or general health, are sometimes never even 
considered. That he hungers for books is in 
itself all-sufficient. 

Passionate love for reading may do as 

much for your child and for mine as it did 

for Walter Scott or Abraham Lincoln. At 

any rate, it is likely to broaden the scope of 

their information and largely increase their 

vocabularies. Nevertheless, an undue amount 

of reading may do a child great injury by 

keeping him from necessary healthful play, 

permanently injuring his eyes, creating an 

appetite for the unreal or the too exciting, 

or by making a sieve of his memory. The 

reading habit should be encouraged, by all 

means, but intelligent interest and wise 

supervision on the part of parents are neces- 

221 



A PARENT'S JOB 



sary, if it is to become the greatest possible 
factor for benefit in the child's education. 

Perhaps the greatest fallacy of all is the 
widely prevalent idea that dislike for a 
study or occupation excuses failure in it, 
and that the very best plan for the education 
of a child is to have him devote by far the 
larger part of his time to the study and work 
that may be most congenial and pleasant. 
The theory is that the future business or 
profession of children will be along the line 
for which they seem to have a natural taste. 
Therefore effort expended in that direction 
will count, permanently, while especial exer- 
tion in other lines can produce little lasting 
benefit. 

Now it is doubtless true that children, or 
anyone else for that matter, will most readily 
do the things in which they take the greatest 
interest. At the same time, the fact must be 
remembered that such preferences are vari- 
able. A boy of eleven may be so wrapt up 
in things electrical that he spends all the 
money he can beg or borrow for wireless and 
other expensive apparatus. Nevertheless, 
a few years later, he will sell a room full of 
such materials to the junk dealer for a few 
pennies to help swell his banjo fund. 

Another point to be considered is that 
because of the irony of fate, or some more 
philosophical reason, persons rarely pursue a 
222 



NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS 

career in the realm for which a pronounced 
bent was manifested in childhood. More or 
less unexpectedly, perhaps, it becomes neces- 
sary to earn a living. Nothing opens in the 
preferred line. At last something else does 
become available, is undertaken as a make- 
shift, and for various reasons finally leads to 
the life job. 

The great point, however, is the value of 
the training itself. There may be no especial 
growth attained by just doing the things 
that can already be done well, but perma- 
nent power is sure to be developed through 
doing one's best at any work which is diffi- 
cult or even distasteful. Other things being 
equal, the harder one has to grit his teeth 
and go to it, the greater is the actual benefit. 
For example, a child is born tone-deaf. 
" It's no use for him to study music, — - he 
has no ear," the parent says. Now it has 
been demonstrated in numerous cases that a 
tone-deaf child can be taught both to recog- 
nize tunes, and to sing and play well. The 
process may be long and tedious. No doubt 
it will be most irksome for both pupil and 
teacher; yet what adult, who has thus 
escaped the great misfortune of being unable 
to recognize tunes or to participate in joyous 
music, will say that such training has not 
been most valuable for him? 

Indeed the things that children naturally 
223 



A PARENT'S JOB 



do poorly are just the ones in which they 
most need instruction. If they are clumsy 
and awkward with their hands, then manual 
training is very essential. Should they show 
a keen dislike for any special study or work, 
that is doubtless a line in which a thorough 
course of instruction will prove especially 
beneficial. Instead of requesting school 
authorities to let their children give up Latin, 
drawing, or any other subject they may be 
trying to get out of, parents should co-oper- 
ate more earnestly with the school to secure 
the best possible effort of their young folk 
in this particular line of work. 

Furthermore, parents and pedagogues must 
both recognize the fact that if education is 
to become more practical and effective, 
changes in both subject matter and methods 
must ensue. Improvement in the quality 
of any manufactured article and in the time 
required to make it results from experi- 
menting, and may be accomplished in a very 
brief time. However, changes in subject 
matter and in methods of teaching come 
about very slowly, since for various reasons 
experiments can not be readily conducted in 
public schools. It was many years before 
students who had not been thoroughly pre- 
pared in Greek were admitted to colleges, 
although much had been written and spoken 
in favor of such a step. It took a long time 
224 



NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS 

for teachers and parents to realize that 
children's minds might be developed by 
training the hand and the eye as well as by 
studying books, despite the fact that the 
point had been most ably and enthusiastically 
urged. 

As is noted in preceding chapters, many 
departures from former educational ideas 
and methods have come in the past twenty 
years, and many more are on the way. It is 
therefore very important that parents should 
have an open mind towards any experiments 
educational authorities may be trying for 
the purpose of finding out if time can be 
saved and efficiency gained. If any topic or 
study can be taught just as effectively in a 
shorter time, or more effectively in a different 
way, it is important that such facts should 
be demonstrated. If the subject matter of 
any study may be profitably curtailed or 
increased, or if the study itself may be 
advantageously supplanted by another better 
fitted for that particular period of training, 
these truths should be made known. The 
earnest, intelligent interest and co-operation 
of parents are essential to inspire teachers 
to their best effort along these lines of 
investigation. Through such a desirable 
union of the home and the school the best 
possible welfare of the family and of the 
nation will be served. 

225 



INDEX 



Accuracy, 38 
Address, Habits of, 23-32 
Appreciation, 59 
Arithmetic, 135-149, 173-181, 
198-206 

Blackboard, 103-104 
Books, 64, 108 

Character, Habits of, 45-68 
Composition, 151-157, 207- 

212 
Concentration, 34—36 
Conversation, 29 

Dictionary, Use of, 166-169 
Drawing, 218 

Ears, 89-90 
Eating, 78-79 
" Eating Air," 72 
Exercise, 90-92, 100-102 
Eyes, 87-89 



Fidelity, 60 
Foods, 77-79 

Generosity, 55-57 
Geography, 157-159, 185-188, 

213 
Grammar Grades, 189-216 

Habits, Health, 61-98 

Habit, of breathing, 73-76 
Habit, Power of, 31, 37 
High School, 213 

Intermediate Grades, 160 

Kindergarten, 112-113 



Language, 149-151, 181-185. 
206-208 

Modesty, 57-58 
Music, 218-219 

Neatness, 36-37 
Nervous Children, 92-93 



Obedience, 45-52 

Penmanship, 123-128, 169- 

171, 195-197 
Playroom, 103 
Politeness, 25 
Promotions, 10, 20 
Promptness, 33-34 
Punishments, 49-51 

Rapidity, 39 

Reading, 113-122, 160-169, 

190-194, 221 7 222 
Religious Training, 62-66 
Report Cards, 9-11, 16-22 
Reverence, 61 

Self-reliance, 40-44 
Sex-Hygiene, 94-97 
Spelling, 128-135, 171-173, 
197-198 

Table habits, 107-108 
Taft, Wm. H., 45 
Teeth, 80-83 
Thrift, 55-56 
Truthfulness, 52-55 

Voice, 25 

Water, 83-86 

227 




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